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According to a 2001 national survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are 46 million
bird watchers in the United States. As there are approximately 300 million persons living in the U.S., this
survey tells us that approximately 1 out of very 6 persons is a bird watcher.
Before you decide that this estimate must be wrong, consider that only 40% of these bird watchers (18 million)
ever leave their homes to watch birds. The rest are backyard bird watchers only. And, to further qualify these
estimates, a person need only have one bird watching experience during the year of the survey to qualify as an
official bird watcher.
The bird watching community becomes even smaller if we consider those who have achieved a minimal level of skill
in identification. Only 14% of bird watchers identified in this study can identify more than 20 species and only 5% can
recognize more than 40. Thus, if one thinks of bird watchers as those that truly treat the pursuit as an important
aspect of their lives, the actual total is only a few million North Americans.
In terms of demographics, bird watchers are older than average (see chart below). They have a higher income,
more education, are more likely married, retired, female, and Caucasian than the average population.
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