Jane Lufkin Davis Birdwatching has come a long way from the backyard feeder. According to a U.S. Department of the Interior survey, 5.2 billion was directly spent on expenses related to watching and enjoying birds in 1991. The industry includes not only bird feeders and seed, but optical equipment, guided tours, festivals, and publications. A number of online resources exist to help beginners get started and veterans get the most out of each field trip.
Participants post questions and responses on a variety of bird-related topics.
Etiquette for participants is included in its Frequently Asked Questions list. Another popular tool is the National Birding Hotline Cooperative , a group of mirrored mail lists for specific birding interests. Rare bird alert information is also available via the Geographical Bird Finder . This site also provides links to regional bird clubs that offer birdwalks and lectures open to the public. For those who don't use general databases, special listing software applications are available for various computing platforms.