Conservation Priorities for Recreational Birding

Recreational birding is a popular activity in the United States, with about 20% of the population participating each year (Carver 2013). To assess the spatial distribution of recreational birding in the southeast, we combined two data sources: eBird (Sullivan et al. 2009) and the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-associated Recreation (NSFHWAR; US Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Department of Commerce 2011). We used spatial birding data from eBird to distribute the state-level NSFHWAR birding data by county, watershed, and land protection status. This analysis represents birding activity as of 2011 (the latest year for which all datasets were available).

This information was used to identify priority areas (at the county and HUC8 watershed level) for conservation of birding areas. These are counties and HUC8 watersheds with a high level of birding activity where at least 90% of birding activity takes place on unprotected land. Because birding is concentrated around urban areas, we identified two sets of priority areas using two birding activity metrics: birding days per square mile (at least 50), which highlights urban areas with high birding activity, and birding days per capita (at least 0.5), which highlights less-populated areas with relatively high birding activity relative to their population. Counties and HUC8 watersheds meeting these criteria are good targets for conservation of suitable birding areas to ensure that the current level of birding activity is not adversely affected by land use changes.

These shapefiles identify priority conservation counties and watersheds for the Southeast U.S. They also include the attributes used to select priority areas, including total birding days, birding days per capita, birding days per square mile, birding days by land cover type, and birding days on unprotected land.