Motivations for Male and Female Birdwatchersin New York State

To better understand the motivations influencing birdwatching participation, a mail survey was conducted in 2006 of 500 male and 500 female birdwatchers living in New York State. Negative binomial regressions were used to identify the relationship between participation (i.e., the number of birdwatching trips taken in 2005; dependent variable) and demographic characteristics and motivations (independent variables) for male and female respondents. For females, results indicated significant, negative relationships between participation and both the “spiritual” and “enjoying the outdoors” motivations, and positive, significant relationships between participation and the “intellectual” and “challenge” motivations. For males, a negative significant relationship between participation and the “spiritual” motivation, and a positive, significant relationship between participation and the “sharing knowledge” motivation were identified. Educational level was related to participation for males, whereas age group, mari...