Survey of motivations and awareness of visitors to birds in Mashhad city parks

Birds as the dominant species in urban ecosystems by increasing the attraction of the park and the satisfaction of its visitors are more attracted to the natural environment, therefore, attracting and protecting birds in urban parks can be one of the objectives of the managers in this area. The purpose of this paper is to examine the motivations of visitors and assessment of avian awareness in Mellat and Pardis parks in Mashhad city. The present study was done by using a questionnaire survey (survey study) and data were collected from 100 visitors in during in the city of Mashhad in the summer and autumn of 2011.In this study, 53% female and 47% male participants and indicated that, 55% of them were somewhat familiar with birds also nature watching was 40% and bird watching was 14% of their favorites in Mellat and Pardis parks. Chi-square test results in 5% level showed there is a significant relationship between occupation and age, sex and level of education and the coming days to visit the park and knowledge of the birds and the coming to the park had no significant differences between gender, age, education and occupation. Thus need to increase green space and provide the content for visitors with the importance of bird conservation and planning and management in raising visitors awareness of birds in urban parks began to rise.