The fair is open to bird lovers of all types, from backyard casual observers to those for whom birds are their livelihood.

Experts and guest speakers at this year's fair, Dr Chris Elphick and Walter Boles, both agreed events such as this allow all bird enthusiasts to mingle unimpeded.

For both it was their first time at the bird fair.

Dr Elphick is an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut, where he teaches conservation biology, ecology, ornithology and field techniques.

"I think (these events) have two functions," he said.

"They give people an opportunity to get together and meet, but I think they also allow speakers to highlight issues and provide greater information to members of the general birding public who maybe are not so involved in the science, to give them access to that information."

Mr Boles, a scientific officer in ornithology and collection manager of birds at the Australian Museum, also feels they benefit the community hosting it as well.

"It allows the spectrum of the community to get together and interact," he said.

"This is a chance to get the mingling, but it also promotes Leeton.

"It is also good that people say 'ah, birds are economically important'. In the states there are little towns that become birdwatching spots, much smaller than Leeton. They get a million dollars a year just from birdwatchers that come through.

"It shows it is worth keeping, it brings in something.

"We know there's good stuff here, people come through and recommend it to somebody. There's chatlines and people you talk to informally, there's a lot of ways for information to disseminate."

Dr Elphick had only been in Australia for seven days before the bird fair and was still fascinated by the birdlife he was seeing.

"I'm happy with galahs walking down the main street," he said.

"The great thing about birds is you can go birding anywhere."

Mr Boles, who last year published a book with a colleague that led to the reassessment of the official list of bird species, gave a "rambling discourse on parrots" for his presentation.