Young adults' motivations to feed wild birds and influences on their potential participation in citizen science: An exploratory study

Conservation science has rapidly adopted citizen science to engage the public in knowledge generation, developing environmental policies, solving localized environmental issues, and generating public support for environmental management. For conservation benefits to be just and equitable, it is important to ensure underserved groups have the opportunity to contribute to citizen science, but the barriers and drivers for their participation are poorly understood. This study explores the perspectives of young adults (18–50 years) who feed wild birds. Their cohort is underrepresented in Project FeederWatch, a large-scale North American citizen science project. Interviews with 72 young adults who do not participate in Project FeederWatch, reveal their motivations to feed birds to be primarily for the benefits it provides for themselves (such as experiencing nature, joy and relaxation) and helping the birds survive. An additional motivation, previously undetected, is to share their feeder bird experiences with others in their social networks. The interviewees hold positive attitudes towards involvement in, and outcomes of Project FeederWatch, although some concerns and barriers to participation are particular to their age group. Most notably, limits on their time and financial resources typical for their life-stage present substantial challenges to their involvement. Project design elements including simple instructions and protocol, a mobile app, and reminders will enable their participation. Social norms related to participation in citizen science are found to be weak. This exploratory work is essential for further research on young adults' involvement in knowledge generation to inform conservation science and practice.