I suspect that much of the issue revolves around whether
feeder watchers should qualify as birders. There is
(in my opinion) an odd prejudice among some birders about
including people who don't keep a life list or do a lot
of chasing as birders.

My feeling is, who cares? Call 'em birders if they are likely
to vote in a direction that protects birds and habitat...

Here are some excerpts from the official report which does
attempt to define birders more finely. Only 18 million (40%)
travel to see birds and and only 5% keep a life list (just
over 2 million).


"In 2001 there were 46 million bird-watchers or birders, 16
years of age and older, in the United States ? a little over
one in five people. What is a birder? The National Survey
uses a conservative definition. To be counted as a birder, an
individual must have either taken a trip a mile or more from
home for the primary purpose of observing birds and/or closely
observed or tried to identify birds around the home. So people
who happened to notice birds while they were mowing the lawn
or picnicking at the beach were not counted as birders. Trips
to zoos and observing captive birds also did not count."

"Eighty-eight percent (40 million) of birders are backyard
birders. The more active form of birding, taking trips away from
home, is less common with 40 percent (18 million) of birders
partaking."

"Presumably because of the relative ease of backyard birding,
birders around the home spent nine times as many days watching
birds as did people who traveled more than a mile from home to
bird watch. In 2001, the median number of days for backyard
birders was 90 and for away-from-home birders it was 10."

Although birders are investing a fair amount of time pursuing
their hobby, most do not appear to have advanced identification
skills. Seventy-four percent of all birders could identify only
between 1 to 20 different types of bird species, 13 percent could
identify 21 to 40 birds and only 8 percent could identify more
than 41 species. Skill levels are higher for birders who travel
from home to bird watch compared to backyard birders ?
10 percent of away-from-home birders could identify 41 or more
birds as opposed to 6 percent of backyard birders."

"Guttman, Burt" wrote:
>
> I just want to note that this report has been the subject of a very long
> discussion on Birdchat, which many of you also subscribe to. It has
> generated enormous skepticism, as you might guess just from browsing this
> summary. I won't go into the issues, but just consider that the report
> identifies a whopping 46 million birdwatchers out of total population of
> just about 5 times that. Do you really believe that one person in five is a
> birder? I suggest that those who are interested should find a way to get to
> the Birdchat discussion, but I imagine the report will generate a Tweeters
> discussion that will cover much of the same ground.
>
> Cheers to all,
>
> Burt Guttman guttmanb at evergreen.edu
> The Evergreen State College
> Olympia, WA 98505 360-456-8447
> Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S.E., Olympia 98503
>

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.

- Wallace Stevens

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html