Beach recreationists perceive a lack of knowledge about shorebirds’ needs as a constraint to walking around shorebird flocks

Walking through shorebird flocks can have negative impacts on shorebird populations. Understanding human behavior is essential for minimizing disturbance. As such, we used a mixed-methods approach consisting of phone interviews and a survey to explore 1) recreationists’ perceived benefits and constraints to voluntarily walking around shorebird flocks, 2) recreationists’ intentions to walk around shorebird flocks, 3) differences in behavioral intention by sociodemographic variables, and 4) differences in norms, benefits, and constraints among recreationists who intend to walk around flocks and recreationists who do not intend to walk around flocks. From the interviews and survey, we found that recreationists’ perceived benefits to walking around flocks were maintaining undisturbed conditions for shorebirds and reducing harm to people and their dogs. Recreationists perceived constraints to walking around flocks related to knowledge about shorebirds’ needs. The majority of recreationists w...