Birders mean millions to Tampa area economy

They come from around the world and all over the region, armed with cameras, flash cards and extra batteries.

They book hotel rooms, eat out and purchase more equipment while they are here.

The come not to visit The Mouse or to watch a professional football game.

They come for the birds.

Others drive from homes around the Tampa Bay region to the nearest specialty shop to purchase high-end bird feeders, water features and seeds meant to attract particular birds to their backyard viewing venues.

Birding, according to a recent study released by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, added $82 billion to the nation's economy in 2006, alone, with some 17 percent of Floridians participating in the pastime.

Foreign visitors, who may see roseate spoonbills, wood storks and red knots for the first time, target specific areas, such as Tampa Bay.

"Most of them bring their own equipment, but they rent cars, buy gas, food and pay for my services," said James Shadle, one of the area's premiere wildlife photographers.

Shadle often leads groups from the United Kingdom, Belize, Canada, France and Malaysia on bird photography excursions into Tampa Bay.

"I've had people come here from almost every major metropolitan center in Florida, besides all the foreign visitors," Shadle said. "My business, alone, produced over 200 [hotel] nights just last year."

Shadle counts himself among the major supporters of Hillsborough County's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program, or ELAPP because of what it provides.

"There are places I've taken clients that would have been impossible to get to before ELAPP purchased them," he said of the voter-backed program. "Or, they are places that wouldn't have been worth going if the county hadn't restored them."

Five of the county's ELAPP sites are part of the Great Florida Birding Trail-Upper Tampa Bay, the wilderness parks off Morris Bridge Road, Camp Bayou in Ruskin, Cockroach Bay in Sun City, Balm-Boyette in Riverview and River Hills in Temple Terrace.

"If you consider the travel, the airfare, the investment in cameras and film and hotels, it has a significant impact," said Peter Fowler, division manager for the ELAPP program. "I don't know if it's true, but I've heard birding [nationwide] is the equivalent of hosting a Super Bowl every year."

That includes the backyard birders who might spend as much as the travelers.

"I've got seven bird baths and one, two, three ... six feeders in my backyard," said Joyce Perbix, as she browsed the specialty items at Rich's Backyard Birds in FishHawk Ranch recently.

"I'm strictly a backyard birder," she said, shortly before she and her friend and former husband Kohl Perbix plopped down about $130 for a wrought-iron pole, a new feeder and some bird seed.

The typical customer drops at least $35 in a visit, said shop owner Rich Crete, a birder himself for more than 30 years, who leads local bird walks.

It's an easy hobby to get into, Crete said. "A pair of binoculars and a bird book and you're in."

Some of those most involved in birding have printed out cards produced by the Great Florida Birding Trail to let politicians know wild lands generate money.

The card read as follows: "I'm spending money in your community because I'm here to see your wonderful birds. Keep up the good work conserving your wildlife and wild lands and I'll keep coming back!"

"It's a great way to drive the point home," said Lorraine Margeson, an avid birder and conservationist from St. Petersburg.

"It's more important now than ever that simple citizens let their politicians know they appreciate it and want to spend money to protect these places. And Florida is one of the best places on the planet to bird watch. There's always something new to see."