Nice Trend (no pixs)

[Loupey]

I read an article over the weekend that put a smile on my face. I don't have it in front of me right now, but it basically stated that birding has surpassed golfing in terms of the amount of money spent.

The source was a professor from the University of Miami (Ohio) who claims that travel by bird enthusiasts accounted for the greatest portion of the expenditure. This was followed by equipment and bird feed. He also claims that, while birding activity has steadily been increasing, the golf industry has been slowly decreasing as of late.

A world where more people are aware of the things around us can't be bad

[mn shutterbug]

I read an article over the weekend that put a smile on my face. I don't have it in front of me right now, but it basically stated that birding has surpassed golfing in terms of the amount of money spent.

The source was a professor from the University of Miami (Ohio) who claims that travel by bird enthusiasts accounted for the greatest portion of the expenditure. This was followed by equipment and bird feed. He also claims that, while birding activity has steadily been increasing, the golf industry has been slowly decreasing as of late.

A world where more people are aware of the things around us can't be bad

You said a mouthful there. I wonder if they even factored in the cost of photography equipment.

[paulnj]

in asia and europe birding is EXTREMELY popular!!! I do believe 35 million birders reside in the US and alot are extremely rich and travel 100's of thousands of miles chasing birds. ecotourism is more profitable to ranchers than cattle these days in the rio grande valley!!!!!

[Loupey]

Mike - it was surprising that the article made no mention of photography equipment being factored in (perhaps to keep the distinction between birders and photo-birders). It did cite the cost of telescopes and binoculars.

Paul - good point about ecotourism. Educating people to respect the wildlife in order to bring in eco-dollars has been a great wave of change. I think the sad part is that we, as humans, will only save those species which can bring in the tourists. The not-so-glamous ones will suffer habit destruction in order to create more usable land for this growing population.

[Canon_Bob]

One of the funniest sayings I heard recently was "The fastest way to make a million in Photography is to start out with 2 million". I loved it.

I can vouch for the birding expenses. Just my backyard setup cost hundreds. Not to mention the monthly feed bill.

[paulnj]

my 2 brothers and I own 10k + in binos and scopes and have birded 17 states I bet I have spent 30k traveling to find birds over the last 5 years too.

[mjs1973]

Some people spend TONS of $ on birding, and I think it's great. Read the book "The Big Year"!