Birdwatching - Socio-psychology

Socio-psychology

Ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen considers birdwatching to be an expression of the male hunting instinct while Simon Baron-Cohen links it with the male tendency for "systemizing". There have been suggestion that identification of birds may be a form of gaining status which has been compared with Kula valuables noted in Papua New Guinean cultures.

A study of the motivations for birdwatching in New York concluded that initial motivations were largely similar in males and females, but males who participate actively in birding are more motivated by sharing knowledge with others, and active female birders are more motivated by their "intellectual" interest in studying birds, and by the "challenge" of identifying new and rare birds and improving their skills. A study suggests that males leaned towards competitive birding while females preferred recreational birdwatching. While the representation of women has always been low, it has been pointed out that nearly 90% of all birdwatchers in the United States are white with only a few African Americans.

Other minority groups have formed organizations to support fellow birders and these include the Gay birders and the Disabled Birders Association.

The study of birdwatching has been of interest to students of the sociology of science.