A new report released last week by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows one of every five Americans watches birds, and in doing so, birdwatchers contributed $36 billion to the U. S. economy in 2006, the most recent year for which economic data are available.

• In 1996, Canadians spent $11.0 billion on a variety of nature-related activities (trips, purchase of supplies like camping gear and binoculars, entrance fees, purchase of birdfeeders, etc.).
• Participants in residential wildlife-related activities (such as backyard birdfeeding) spent $320.5 million, or an annual expenditure per participant of $35.

In the United States, birdwatching seems to be more popular in the northern half of the country. The five top states with the greatest birding participation rates include Montana (40 percent), Maine (39 percent), Vermont (38 percent), Minnesota (33 percent) and Iowa (33 percent).

The report identifies who birders are, where they live, how avid they are, and what kinds of birds they watch. In addition to demographic information, the report also provides an estimate of how much birders spend on their hobby and the economic impact of these expenditures.

A copy of the Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis can be downloaded here.(PDF)