Surveys Put a Price Tag on Urban Birds

Rather than asking people about the economic value of charismatic or endangered species, a new study asks city-dwellers about birds in their backyards and parks.

"No one has really looked at what people will be willing to pay for these more common species, ones that aren't necessarily endangered or threatened. We wanted to address that because people living in urban areas don't encounter endangered species on a daily basis," says Barbara Clucas. James Willamor, CC BY-SA 2.0

Rather than asking people about the economic value of charismatic or endangered species, a new study asks city-dwellers about birds in their backyards and parks.

Researchers compared two types of common birds—finches and corvids—in Seattle and Berlin, asking residents how much they would pay to conserve the species and what they spend, if anything, on bird food.

In Seattle, the answer is $120 million a year and in Berlin, $70 million.

Thomas Quine/CC BY-SA 2.0