The Steller’s Sea-Eagle’s (Haliaeetus pelagicus) journey across North America during August 2020–January 2022. Each black pin-drop represents the location of reporting for the individual eagle along with the date of the observation. The color of the transition line matches the color of the marker on the timeline.

By Brent S. Pease, Neil A. Gilbert, William R. Casola, and Kofi Akamani.

Read the full paper here.

This study focused on the economic valuation of birdwatching associated with a large, rare, and charismatic raptor species, the Steller’s Sea-Eagle, which was spotted in North America for the first time between 2020 and 2022. In the US, birdwatching is a popular recreational activity that generates billions for the US economy, with birdwatchers typically spending the most amount of money on equipment (e.g., binoculars) and local birdwatching trips. Many people, however, also travel long distances to see rare out-of-range (vagrant) birds, and we wanted to assess the economic value of this kind of birdwatching. Though some estimates of vagrant birdwatching exist, this study was the first to explore the economic value of vagrant birdwatching associated with the Steller’s Sea-Eagle.

We surveyed people who traveled to see the Steller’s Sea-Eagle and estimated how much money they spent to travel and view the eagle. We also used a method called willingness to pay to estimate how much their experience was worth beyond the money they already spent on travel. Our results showed that the average person who traveled to see the Steller’s Sea-Eagle spent $180 USD (excluding travel time) or $277 (including travel time) to see the bird. We estimated that between 2,115 and 2,645 people traveled to see the eagle, which generated between $380,604 and $476,626 of total spending, or $584,373 to $731,809 when travel time was considered. We also estimated that people were hypothetically willing to pay an additional $139,036 and $174,114 to see the eagle.

Our research highlights the importance of assessing nature’s contributions to people because it helps stakeholders make decisions about conservation. Even rare birds that only show up occasionally can be important albeit short-lived economic boosts for communities if people come to see them and spend money. However, realization of these benefits requires the collective ability of communities to take advantage of tourism opportunities. By showing that there is an economic benefit to preserving bird habitats and promoting birdwatching tourism, our research can help people make better decisions about how to protect nature and derive its benefits in an increasingly unpredictable world that is marked by land use change, climate change impacts and other forces of social and ecological change.