Birds of a Feather Lockdown Together: Mutual bird-human benefits during a global pandemic

Michael Brock, Jacqueline Doremus and Liqing Li
Additional contact information
Michael Brock: University of East Anglia

No 2020-03, University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series from School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

Abstract: Feeding backyard wildlife has impure public good characteristics { it can satisfy specific human motivations whilst also improving bird populations. We document a surge in human interest in connecting with wild birds during lockdowns in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using an event-study design, we find large increases in bird engagement that begin very soon after lockdown. Responses are stronger for areas with more important bird habitat. Investments appear sustained, at the rst beginning with bird feeders, then seed and baths. We estimate that lockdown feeding may increase spring populations of birds that visit feeders by 1-5% and avoided the death of 30,000-161,000 edgling birds, potentially more than offsetting declines in bird populations from habitat loss and pesticide use for 2020. Bird engagement in response to lockdown likely enhanced resilience for both humans and birds alike.

Keywords: Covid-19; birds; bird feeding; connectivity; impure public goods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 Q26 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-05-10
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ueaeco.github.io/working-papers/papers/ueaeco/UEA-ECO-20-03.pdf main text (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Birds of a feather lockdown together: Mutual bird-human benefits during a global pandemic (2021)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uea:ueaeco:2020-03

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
Reception, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series from School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Cara Liggins ().