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This story was corrected on Aug. 5, 2009 This story has been corrected to reflect the proper spelling of George Petrides Sr.'s name and that of his father George Petrides, and to show that Kevin White bought his Gaithersburg store in October 2008. The edited version also clarifies that George Petrides Sr. is chairman and founder of Wild Bird Centers Inc., which has an educational and philanthropic arm, The National Birdfeeding Society.

Kevin White of Gaithersburg doles out advice and dispenses birdseed daily to aviary aficionados aiming to bring nature back into their yards.

He bought a franchise of Wild Bird Centers of America Inc., a booming bird supply business born 25 years ago in Cabin John, that has spawned 85 franchises from Louisiana to British Columbia, including 10 in Maryland. The businesses grossed more than $30 million in sales nationwide in 2008, said George Petrides Sr. who opened the first store in 1985 and said the industry has "exploded."

"This is more than a hobby for most people," said White. "We're the answer man for all kinds of birding questions…'What kind of bird is this in my yard?'"

Sometimes he has to scramble, but he tries to have the answers, he said. Like the others, White's store, The Wild Bird Center of Gaithersburg on Darnestown Road, sells birding supplies from high-end birdseed to birdbaths, birdfeeders, binoculars and other bird watching equipment. He got into the business working part-time at the store, and bought the store in October 2008, he said. Birding had always been a hobby, passed along to him by his grandmother.

"There's no two franchisees that come from the same background," said Petrides. "Railroad engineers, people from big companies…Often they say, 'I just wanted to get things back in balance, put things on a more human scale. I would say that all are very successful people. Whatever they were doing they were good at it. They just decided to put it toward this particular hobby."

After gardening, bird watching is the nation's second biggest pastime, said Petrides, who said 50 million Americans say they feed wild birds and watch wild animals around their homes.

His father, also named George Petrides, was a well-known naturalist and botanist and friend of Roger Tory Peterson, the ornithologist said to have spearheaded the American environmental movement with a field guide series he wrote, covering topics from birds to rocks and minerals.

Bird watching was a family hobby, said Petrides, chairman and founder of Wild Bird Centers Inc., who opened the Cabin John store, now located in Bethesda, on a lark with no intention of expanding.

In those days, half his business was in seed and he sold "probably 90 percent fewer products than in the store today," Petrides said. "I might have had 100 or 75 products, if that. Today there are thousands."

The business now has a nonprofit philanthropic and educational arm, The National Bird Feeding Society.