Good thread. I think we've zeroed in on a lot of pertinent factors about the
differences between the sexes in birding. From a woman's point of view, the
term "hot-shot" already partially answers the question. There are many
excellent female birders (to say nothing of feeder-watchers, whose data is
getting used extensively in CBC's and Project Feederwatch), but I wonder how
many of them are eager to be considered "hot-shots?" One thing female
birders *do* want, in my experience, is to be accorded credibility. I've
heard frequent complaints about their sightings never being put on the hot
line (until confirmed by a male) or about having their ID's constantly
vetted by a CBC male team leader who accepted the ID's of a less experienced
male teammate without question. In a way, women may damage their credibility
by conversational habits such as over-explaining, expressing modesty or
self-doubt about their birding skills, adding information about the
emotional impact of a sighting... I know that even I, a woman, take that
sort of report a little less seriously (and can remember missing a life bird
because I did).

As for young birders - hey. A bunch of mid-life and beyond folks, getting up
at 5:00 a.m. to wade around in a marsh is not going to be a magnetic
attracter of young people. WE know it's interesting, rewarding, obsessional;
they're looking for love. The lucky few who get interested early because of
a mentor, neat relative, lonely childhood or whatever have a great
opportunity to go far.

Something young people do find cool is falconry and bird-handling, by the
way. Our bird treatment center shows rehab birds in the schools and in
public places and we always draw a crowd. People of all ages are virtually
mesmerized by being able to get very close to an uncaged bird (so experience
with good optics is also definitely a factor in turning people on to
birding). Big 3 questions from kids: "What's its name? Can I touch it? Is it
a boy or a girl?"