Love the "LBJ"!  Surely the world is big enough for all lovers of all 
things feathered.  Every child who is fascinated with a robin or a crow 
is our friend.  Every teacher who sends the kids home with a lovingly 
crafted milk jug bird feeder is helping a new generation to love birds.  
As a long-time low tech, no list,  low pressure birder, I say the more 
the merrier - no charge for admission -  the thrills and excitement 
abound !

Karen Caruso
Riva

Laura Appelbaum wrote:

> Richard Wood wrote: "I would think that a lot of birders have seen 
> most of the birds of North America and want to spread their wings and 
> branch out to other countries and their birds."
>
> As far as I'm concerned, I couldn't disagree more.  I've been birding 
> since the late '80s and still have a list under 300.  I've only been 
> out of the United States twice, once to Canada, and once to Israel and 
> Jordan, and with the rising cost of living as compared to my income, I 
> don't forsee any international trips any time soon, if ever, in my 
> life.  For me, a "big vacation" is to get a weekend a year to spend in 
> the cheapest possible motel in Cape May.  Indeed, I agree with Jay 
> Jones when he says that he's opted out of local bird club meetings 
> because of the heavy international emphasis.  And as for my skill 
> level, well, I'm a lot more interested and in need of articles and 
> trips and so forth that cover "little brown jobs" than I am in 
> discussions of the minutea of identifying fifth year Black-Browed 
> Albatrosses.  Given that local reporters apparently can't tell the 
> difference between gulls and albatross, I'd have to say I'm far from 
> alone. <G>
>
> Furthermore, I think this focus, among birding organizations in 
> general, and the ABA in particular, is extremely out-dated and, how to 
> say this? "white-centric?"  Yes, historically, US birders have been, 
> more than not, fairly wealthy, and overwhelmingly white.  Sure, there 
> are and were famous birders who, like Ken Kauffman, were living out of 
> their backpacks and hitch-hiking to birding meccas, but who in 21st 
> century America hitch-hikes anymore?  More and more, the emphasis in 
> the birding community, or maybe the social expectations of the birding 
> community, is that bird-watchers and birders are upper middle class, 
> middle-aged or older, frequent-flyer mile cashing in, semi-retired 
> white people.  But you know what?  That is not the profile of the 
> average American, and except for the aging part, it's becoming less 
> and less so all the time.  Indeed, the more the birding community 
> through its institutions and programs and publications etc. projects 
> the image that birding is for those who have nearly unlimited vacation 
> time and can afford to drop $4000 on designer optics, and $10,000 on a 
> trip to the Galapagos or where ever, the fewer and fewer new birders 
> we're going to see.  Concerted efforts need to be made to reach out to 
> lower and moderate income, non-white, young people if the hobby of 
> birding and the vocation of ornithology are going to continue.
>
> Your mileage may vary.
>
> Laura Appelbaum
> Cloverly, MD