Racial, ethnic, and social patterns in the recreation specialization of birdwatchers: An analysis of United States eBird registrants

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dc.contributor.authorRutter, Jonathan D.en
dc.contributor.authorDayer, Ashley A.en
dc.contributor.authorHarshaw, Howard W.en
dc.contributor.authorCole, Nicholas W.en
dc.contributor.authorDuberstein, Jennifer N.en
dc.contributor.authorFulton, David C.en
dc.contributor.authorRaedeke, Andrew H.en
dc.contributor.authorSchuster, Rudy M.en
dc.coverage.countryUnited Statesen
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-21T12:35:33Zen
dc.date.available2022-09-21T12:35:33Zen
dc.date.issued2021-09en
dc.description.abstractAlthough birdwatchers comprise a large and growing proportion of the American public, there is a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the birdwatching community. Previous research suggests that this homogeneity is self-perpetuating, as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC) are less likely to pursue activities in which no one they know participates. However, it is unclear whether this trend in birdwatching participation also applies to degree of subsequent participant involvement. Using a national online survey of US birdwatchers, we measured the degree of recreation specialization among birdwatchers along affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions. We also determined whether respondents had social connections (acquaintances, close friends, or relatives) who birdwatch. We then used logistic regression to determine which ethno-racial groups were more likely to have birdwatcher social connections, and multiple linear regression to investigate how our measures of recreation specialization varied by ethno-racial group. As expected, the ethno-racial composition of the birdwatchers we studied was significantly less diverse than that of the American public. Of the 29,380 respondents who reported their ethno-racial group, 5.2% were BIPOC (including Native American, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, or multiracial), while 94.8% were non-Hispanic White. However, we observed no statistically significant ethno-racial patterns in overall degree of recreation specialization, even when controlling for social connection and demographic characteristics. Considering the three dimensions of specialization individually, we found that some ethno-racial predictors were statistically significant, but coefficients were too small to be practically significant. We conclude that while some ethno-racial groups are underrepresented among birdwatchers, there is insufficient evidence that they are also under-specialized. Management implications: Understanding the racial and ethnic dynamics of outdoor recreation is crucial as wildlife agencies and organizations seek to diversify wildlife-related recreation and serve the breadth of their public constituencies. We found that although Black, Indigenous, and people of color in the United States are underrepresented in birdwatching, the degree of their involvement (i.e. recreation specialization) does not differ substantially from that of White birdwatchers. Efforts to build a more diverse birdwatching community should therefore focus on increasing participation from, and developing opportunities that are inclusive of, underrepresented ethno-racial groups.en
dc.description.adminPublic domain – authored by a U.S. government employeeen
dc.description.notesNational Flyway Councilen
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Flyway Council [CON000000054673, 00049956]en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2021.100400en
dc.identifier.eissn2213-0799en
dc.identifier.issn2213-0780en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/111950en
dc.identifier.volume35en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.rightsPublic Domain (U.S.)en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/en
dc.subjectBirdwatchingen
dc.subjectRaceen
dc.subjectEthnicityen
dc.subjectRecreation specializationen
dc.subjectSocial connectionen
dc.subjectDiversityen
dc.titleRacial, ethnic, and social patterns in the recreation specialization of birdwatchers: An analysis of United States eBird registrantsen
dc.title.serialJournal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism-Research Planning and Managementen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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