I originally posted this review on 2 Dec 2008 at the Audubon Birdscapes Blog, now offline but available on the Wayback Machine Internet Archive (here).
If your Audubon chapter or birding club is trying to expand its membership and reach new audiences, you should take a look at John C. Robinson’s new book Birding for Everyone. A birder for nearly 30 years, and an African-American, Robinson has a lot to say about why we don’t see as many Black, Hispanic, or other minority birders–as well as what is needed to reach groups such as these without a strong birding tradition.
Birding for Everyone is almost two different books. Much of it seems written to encourage members of minority groups to take up birding. These include great personal stories showing how much birding means to Robinson, as well as a handful of other minority birders that he profiles. He also includes basic instructions on birding–such as how to identify birds and how to chose binoculars.
The rest of the book addresses a wider audience interested in promoting birding among minorities. Robinson’s biggest claim is (surprise!) that we don’t have more minority birders because we don’t have many minority birders–that until there are more visible birders among minority communities, it will be tough to convince members of that community to be more involved with birding.
So how do we get more minority birders–at least a core of them so that they can attract other members of their community? Robinson gives five main suggestions:
- Home and Parents. Birding groups need to market birding as an activity that families can do together–and take that message to minority households.
- Schools. Audubon chapters and birding clubs, as well as individual birders, need to volunteer to work with schools to engage young minority audiences in the joys of birding.
- Community Programs. Many minority kids and others are engaged in after-school and other community program. Birding groups need to help develop a birding component to these programs that are already accepted in the community.
- Public Communications and Advertisements. We need to craft pro-birding messages targeted to minority communities.
- Role Models and Mentors. We need to support minority birders and help them as they reach out to their own community members.
Through most of the book, Robinson focuses on birding–the serious persuit of birds with field guides and binoculars. There is also a need to promote more casual bird watching and bird-feeding among minority communities. Casual birding is an order of magnitude more common than serious birding–but minority participation lags behind in this arena as well. The same strategies mentioned above can be used to attract casual birdwatchers as well. While only briefly mentioned in the book, the wild bird feeding industry has a potentially significant role to play in this regard. We need them to take a more proactive role in marketing their products to minority audiences.
One weakness of this book, as with birding outreach in general, is a reliance on the mostly unproven assumption that if only more people enjoyed watching birds, they would do more to help protect them. However, to the degree that this may be true and in light of demographic shifts that are creating a non-Caucasian majority in the United States, there is the strong possibility that if minority audiences don’t learn to more fully appreciate birds and nature, than we may be faced with even more difficulty in maintaining popular support for conservation programs in the coming decades.
So take a look at Birding for Everyone, and make a greater effort to engage all of our neighbors–no matter what their background–in enjoying, appreciating, and helping birds in our communities.