Users of a citizen science platform for bird data collection differ from other birdwatchers in knowledge and degree of specialization

Spatial, temporal, and motivational changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a nature-based leisure activity - A global survey of birders

Birdwatchers contribute an immense amount of data to citizen science databases. Thus, birding is important from the leisure perspective and from nature conservation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we studied birdwatchers on a global scale in over 50 countries by applying the model of behavior change, which focuses on changes in opportunity (spatial, temporal), motivation, and capability (avoidance behavior). The sample consisted of 5051 participants (3437 men, 1575 women, mean age 49 years). Birders changed their spatial behavior to more local birding and to avoidance behavior by choosing different places and different clock times. Concerning motivation, being outdoors showed the highest increase and being with friends the strongest decrease. Higher specialized birders experienced a stronger shift toward regional birding. Birders that focused on new, local, or unrewarding places experienced an increase in motivation. Our study empirically supports the behavior change model and highlights the need to address the heterogeneity of the recreationists.

Selection of Indicator Bird Species as a Baseline for Knowledge Assessment in Biodiversity Survey Studies

The loss of Earth's biodiversity is accompanied by a loss of public knowledge about species. Many scientists are convinced that knowledge about species is an important prerequisite to interest and investment in species conservation. In the past, knowledge about species has mostly been assessed using birds, but there is no consensus on which birds could serve as a baseline for knowledge about species in the general public. The aim of this study is to provide a list of the 'golden 50' bird species in Germany that can be used by educational institutions, as well as studies about species knowledge to make them more comparable. The list can also serve as a basis for the selection of so-called flagship species, which are used for the protection of habitats and other species due to their high likeability. To achieve this, three consecutive steps were conducted: an analysis of bird-related databases to determine which species might be common and known and two expert panel studies. The data analysis included several factors: species characteristics, Citizen Science data, public value and importance, and scientific studies. In both the first and second rounds, experts were asked for their opinion on which species should be known by the general public in Germany. The first expert panel, which consisted of only a small group of experts (n = 6), was mainly used to reduce the number of species for the second panel. In the second expert panel, 197 ornithologically qualified experts from all over Germany were asked for their assessment. The correlations between the expert assessments and the different variables were all significant (except for the species trait "colourfulness"), which validates the selection process used here and consequently the species list that has been compiled. The selection process can also be applied to other biogeographical regions or taxa.

Southern Europe is becoming climatically favourable for African birds: anticipating the establishment of a new species

BACKGROUND

The current modification of species distribution ranges, as a response to a warmer climate, constitutes an interesting line of work and a recent challenge for biogeography. This study aimed to determine if the climatic conditions of southern Europe are adequate to host a typical African species, the House Bunting, which is registered regularly during the last years, still in low numbers. To this end, the distribution of the species in its native range was modelled, both in the present and in future climate scenarios, using its current breeding distribution areas and a set of environmental variables.

RESULTS

The results showed that the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula exhibits high values of favourability to host this African species for the current climatic conditions. Furthermore, future forecasts indicated an increase in favourability for this area. The highly favourable areas we detected in the south of the Iberian Peninsula are already regularly receiving individuals of the species. These observations are very likely vagrant birds dispersing from recently colonised breeding areas in northern Morocco, which may indicate a continuous process of colonisation towards the north, as has occurred during the last decades in Northern Africa.

CONCLUSIONS

We cannot anticipate when the House Bunting will establish on the European continent because colonisation processes are usually slow but, according to our results, we predict its establishment in the near future. We have also identified those areas hosting favourable conditions for the species in Europe. These areas are a potential focal point for the colonisation of this and other African birds if the climate continues to warm.

Razorbills Alca torda in Italian Seas: A Massive Irruption of Historical Relevance and Role of Social Network Monitoring

Reporting on uncommon wide animal movements could help in depicting potential carry-over effects at the population level, particularly in an era of rapid climate and environmental changes. The razorbill (Alca torda, Linnaeus 1758) is a regular passage migrant and winter visitor to Italian seas, but with sporadic presences usually involving small numbers of individuals. Irruptions have been occasionally documented, with the last records of an unusually large number dating back to 1982. However, in the past, irruptions have only been locally reported and poorly described. Here we report on an unprecedented massive irruption of hundreds of razorbills which occurred in the central Mediterranean Sea in November-December 2022. Using citizen science platforms and photos/videos shared on social networking sites (SNSs), we estimated the relative magnitude of the irruption and described the spatial distribution of birds at sea, as well as report cases of stranded individuals. We collected a total of 267 records, both from Italy and from neighboring countries. We also discuss the likely factors affecting razorbill irruption and stress the importance of open social platforms and data sharing to aid in the early detection and estimation of such events at a wide-scale, as well as for the monitoring of the mortality of the irrupted species.

Assessing the aesthetic attractivity of European butterflies: A web-based survey protocol

Aesthetic attractivity stands as an underestimated yet fundamental feature of species in conservation biology, significantly driving disproportionate protection efforts towards charismatic species. Despite the evidence, few attempts sought to precisely quantify the impact of aesthetic attractivity in defining priority of species for conservation actions (e.g. inclusion in International Union for Conservation of Nature red lists and protection lists). This study protocol describes the setting of an online test (available from April 2022 to April 2023 at www.unveiling.eu) designed to i) quantify the aesthetic attractivity to humans of the 496 European butterfly species and ii) identify which features (both in the perceived animal and in the perceiver) influence the aesthetic attractivity of a given butterfly species. The test is divided in 5 sections (personal data, ranking, single morphological features, emotional engagement, dispositional variables) aimed at profiling the relation each participant has with the species examined. In the long-term, evaluating butterflies' aesthetic attractivity could facilitate the critical assessment of current conservation strategies, such as the process of selection of flag and umbrella species by research institutions, environmental associations and Non Governative Organizations. This is expected to provide the much-needed evidence to set up unbiased biodiversity conservation strategies and counteract the selective anthropogenic pressure which favours the extinction of unattractive species, being no or less protected compared to charismatic species.

Are Lay People Able to Estimate Breeding Bird Diversity?

Studies about biodiversity and well-being used different approaches to assess biodiversity, e.g., scientific counts and censuses or perceived biodiversity estimated by the respondents. Here, we assessed whether laypeople could estimate the breeding bird diversity or species richness at specific places. For comparison, we carried out bird censuses with standard methods of professional ornithologists and used citizen science data from the internet platform Ornitho (Germany). Lay people from the public (1184 respondents) were surveyed between May and July 2022 at 40 different places in southwest Germany between Rottenburg/Tübingen and Stuttgart following the catchment of the river Neckar (30 people surveyed per place). People were asked to estimate the bird species richness/diversity at this current place. Here, we show that the data from the citizen science platform does not correlate with the professional census counts nor with the perceived species richness of laypeople. Laypeople have a generally good assessment of the bird species richness, correlating with the data of professionals (r = 0.325, p = 0.041). On average, the number of species assessed by laypeople lies in between the values of the professional morning and afternoon census. People were most often surveyed in the afternoon; therefore, their assessment must be done on other factors than actual birds present. This result is valuable for future studies on the connection between biodiversity and well-being.

Motivations and Specialization of Birders Are Differently Related to Engagement in Citizen Science Projects of Different Complexity

Citizen Science (CS) projects are an important aspect of scientific data collection and biodiversity conservation. In ornithology, various CS projects exist, and even laypersons can contribute, but advanced birdwatchers also spend considerable time and effort in data collection. Here, different CS projects for birders were analyzed and compared with respect to recreation specialization and motivations for birdwatching. Established, psychometrically valid, and reliable scales were applied in this study. N = 2856 respondents from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland were grouped into no, low, and sustained engagement clusters. Sustained engagement was related to more complex programs, such as the breeding bird census and waterfowl counting. When comparing the engagement clusters, effect sizes were considerable, ranging from 0.098 (attraction) to 0.306 (skill/knowledge). Thus, birders of the three engagement clusters differed significantly in birding specialization, especially skill/knowledge, psychological commitment, social motivations, and the psychological construct centrality to lifestyle. No differences were found in enjoyment and achievement motivations. In conclusion, low-threshold projects are needed to attract participants, but keeping people within programs or moving them to a higher level of engagement might be easier when social dimensions are addressed.

Community engagement and data quality: best practices and lessons learned from a citizen science project on birdsong

Citizen Science (CS) is a research approach that has become popular in recent years and offers innovative potential for dialect research in ornithology. As the scepticism about CS data is still widespread, we analysed the development of a 3-year CS project based on the song of the Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) to share best practices and lessons learned. We focused on the data scope, individual engagement, spatial distribution and species misidentifications from recordings generated before (2018, 2019) and during the COVID-19 outbreak (2020) with a smartphone using the 'Naturblick' app. The number of nightingale song recordings and individual engagement increased steadily and peaked in the season during the pandemic. 13,991 nightingale song recordings were generated by anonymous (64%) and non-anonymous participants (36%). As the project developed, the spatial distribution of recordings expanded (from Berlin based to nationwide). The rates of species misidentifications were low, decreased in the course of the project (10-1%) and were mainly affected by vocal similarities with other bird species. This study further showed that community engagement and data quality were not directly affected by dissemination activities, but that the former was influenced by external factors and the latter benefited from the app. We conclude that CS projects using smartphone apps with an integrated pattern recognition algorithm are well suited to support bioacoustic research in ornithology. Based on our findings, we recommend setting up CS projects over the long term to build an engaged community which generates high data quality for robust scientific conclusions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10336-022-02018-8.

Sentiment Analysis of Comments of American Birders during Two Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic Reveal More Negative Sentiments in the Context of Birding

Human-nature relationships are an important aspect of leisure research. Previous studies also reported that nature-related activities have a health benefit. In this study, we surveyed US-American birdwatchers at two time points during the COVID pandemic (independent samples). During the beginning of the COVID pandemic in spring 2020, we analyzed their comments with an AI sentiment analysis. Approximately one year later (winter 2020/21), during the second wave, the study was repeated, and a second data set was analyzed. Here we show that during the ongoing pandemic, the sentiments became more negative. This is an important result because it shows that despite the positive impact of nature on mental health, the sentiments become more negative in the enduring pandemic.

Leaders Inspiring the Next Generation of Citizen Scientists – An Analysis of the Predictors of Leadership in Birding

Citizen Science (CS) is a megatrend of the 21st century given its importance for nature conservation. CS projects dealing with birds often require knowledge and abilities to identify species. This knowledge is not easy to acquire and people often learn from leaders during field trips and lectures about birds. This emphasizes the need for leaders in ornithology. Although data of CS projects are increasing, less is known about people providing guidance and taking over leadership roles. In this study, leadership roles (leading field trips, giving lectures/presentations) are analyzed by studying demographic variables, birding specialization, and the social dimension of the involvement concept of serious leisure. Participants were recruited via many channels to cover a broad range of birdwatchers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland who participated in the online survey. A total of 1,518 participants were men, 1,390 were women (mean age 47.7). Mean years of birding were on average 24.5. 845 persons lead at least one field trip, and 671 gave on lecture (in combination 991). Mean number of field trips led during the last 5 years was 13.43, mean number of presentations was 8.21. Persons that gave presentations also led field trips (Phi = 0.593, p < 0.001). However, there are still people that preferred leading field trips over lecturing and vice versa. Men more than women took over leadership roles. A binary logistic regression showed an influence of age, gender, and university degree. Social relatedness was related to being a leader, also birding skill/competence as well as self-report behavior of birding were significant predictors for leadership roles. Years of birdwatching and both commitment scales were not significant. The data indicate that more diversity in leadership roles might be beneficial with more women and younger persons.

An Analysis of Heterogeneity in German Speaking Birdwatchers Reveals Three Distinct Clusters and Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to segment birdwatchers into clusters. Members from a wide range of bird related organizations, from highly specialized birders as well as Facebook bird group members were studied to provide a diverse dataset (n = 2766; 50.5% men). Birding specialization was measured with a battery of questionnaires. Birding specialization encompassed the three constructs of skill/competence, behavior, personal and behavioral commitment. Additionally, involvement, measured by centrality to lifestyle, attraction, social bonding, and identity, was used. The NbClust analyses showed that a three-cluster solution was the optimal solution. Then, k-means cluster analysis was applied on three groups: casual/novice, intermediate, and specialist/advanced birdwatchers. More men than women were in the specialist/advanced group and more women than men in the casual/novice group. As a conclusion, this study confirms a three-cluster solution for segmenting German birdwatchers based on a large and diverse sample and a broad conceptualization of the construct birding specialization. These data can be used to address different target audiences (novices, advanced birders) with different programs, e.g., in nature conservation.

Negative social jetlag - Special consideration of leisure activities and evidence from birdwatchers

Birdwatching (birding) is a nature-based recreational activity, often including arising early in the morning. In the present study, we tested the effect of a negative social jetlag (SJL) in birders. Negative SJL implies that people have an even earlier sleep-wake rhythm on free days or weekends. As birds' activities start before or shortly after sunrise, especially during spring and early summer, birdwatchers follow this diurnal pattern. Further, birders are not homogeneous and vary greatly in recreational specialisation. The study was based on an online survey with 2,404 birdwatchers (55% male) who responded to questions about their sleep-wake times and about their birding activities. Birders show the same differences between weekdays and weekends/free days sleep like most other people. However, birdwatching days started earlier than weekdays (14 min) and lasted longer. Thus, birdwatching days are shifted towards an earlier sleep-wake rhythm in total. Birdwatchers experience a sleep curtailment during birding. Instead of sleeping ~30 min longer on weekends, they arise ~15 min earlier, summing up to a sleep reduction of about ~45 min compared to a regular weekend. The more psychologically committed birders are, the less they sleep, the earlier they arise, and the earlier is their midpoint of sleep on birdwatching days; meaning that highly specialised birders shift their sleep-wake rhythm to an earlier time compared to their regular weekend, and even their weekday sleep. Thus, birders may suffer more from the short- and long-term consequences of negative SJL. The results might stand representatively for other nature-related leisure activities.