Household Factors Influencing Participation in Bird Feeding Activity: A National Scale Analysis

Ameliorating pressures on the ecological condition of the wider landscape outside of protected areas is a key focus of conservation initiatives in the developed world. In highly urbanized nations, domestic gardens can play a significant role in maintaining biodiversity and facilitating human-wildlife interactions, which benefit personal and societal health and well-being. The extent to which sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors are associated with engagement in wildlife gardening activities remain largely unresolved. Using two household-level survey datasets gathered from across Britain, we determine whether and how the socioeconomic background of a household influences participation in food provision for wild birds, the most popular and widespread form of human-wildlife interaction. A majority of households feed birds (64% across rural and urban areas in England, and 53% within five British study cities). House type, household size and the age of the head of the household were all important predictors of bird feeding, whereas gross annual household income, the occupation of the head of the household, and whether the house is owned or rented were not. In both surveys, the prevalence of bird feeding rose as house type became more detached and as the age of the head of the household increased. A clear, consistent pattern between households of varying size was less evident. When regularity of food provision was examined in the study cities, just 29% of households provided food at least once a week. The proportion of households regularly feeding birds was positively related to the age of the head of the household, but declined with gross annual income. As concerns grow about the lack of engagement between people and the natural environment, such findings are important if conservation organizations are successfully to promote public participation in wildlife gardening specifically and environmentally beneficial behaviour in society more generally.

缓解保护区外更广范围景观的生态压力，是发达国家自然保护举措的核心关注点。在高度城市化的国家中，家庭花园在维持生物多样性、促进人与野生动物互动方面可发挥重要作用，而这两类效益均有益于个人与社会的健康福祉。社会人口学与社会经济因素和居民参与野生园艺活动的关联程度，在很大程度上仍未明确。本研究依托全英范围内收集的两份家庭层面调查数据集，旨在探究家庭社会经济背景是否以及如何影响居民参与为野生鸟类提供食物的活动——这是最流行且分布最广的人与野生动物互动形式。多数家庭会投喂野生鸟类：英格兰城乡地区整体参与率达64%，英国五个研究城市内的参与率为53%。房屋类型、家庭规模与户主年龄均是鸟类投喂行为的重要预测因子，而家庭年总收入、户主职业以及房屋自有或租赁属性则并非如此。在两项调查中，房屋类型越偏向独立式住宅、户主年龄越大，鸟类投喂的普及率越高；而不同家庭规模间的投喂规律则相对不清晰。在研究城市中针对投喂频次展开分析时，仅有29%的家庭每周至少投喂一次鸟类。定期投喂鸟类的家庭占比与户主年龄呈正相关，但随家庭年总收入升高而降低。随着人们对人与自然环境互动不足的担忧日益加剧，若保护组织希望成功推广野生园艺相关的公众参与，以及更广泛的社会环境友好行为，本研究结论具有重要参考价值。