Accessible birding in the United States: constraints to and facilitators of birding with disabilities

ABSTRACT

While approximately one-quarter of the U.S. population has a disability, many people with disabilities remain excluded from equitable participation in birding. In this study, we compared the constraints and facilitators of birders with and without disabilities from a nationwide survey of U.S. wildlife viewers. Next, we analyzed open-ended responses in a survey of birders with disabilities to characterize constraints and facilitators using models of disabilities, or different frames of reference to understand disabilities. We found that birders with disabilities, compared to those without, experienced constraints to birding to a greater extent. However, birders with and without disabilities expressed interest in various facilitators (e.g. access to more high-quality birding locations, information about birding), suggesting that facilitators can benefit both groups. Birders invoked multiple models when describing their constraints to and facilitators of birding, highlighting a need for a multi-faceted approach to fostering greater levels of inclusivity in birding.

KEYWORDS:

• Accessibility
• birding
• models of disability
• people with disabilities
• wildlife viewing

Acknowledgments

First, we would like to thank our survey participants for taking the time to contribute to our research. We would also like to thank the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Wildlife Viewing and Nature Tourism Working Group for their collaboration on the wildlife viewer survey. We’d like to thank Christy Pototsky for assistance with figures. We’d also like to acknowledge the Associate Editor and anonymous reviewers who contributed to the improvement of this manuscript. This project was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Multistate Conservation Grant Program (grant # F21AP00617), which is jointly managed by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Some members of the disability community want to be recognized as “disabled people” and other people prefer “people with disabilities.” In this paper we use a mixed approach to this terminology, along with using “birders who experience accessibility challenges,” to be as inclusive as possible.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Multistate Conservation Grant Program provided to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies [F21AP00617] and subcontracted to Virginia Tech (PI Ashley Dayer).