|
Want to learn
more about the birds that breed in your area and help
contribute to bird conservation efforts in Minnesota? You can do
both by becoming a volunteer surveyor for the Minnesota Breeding
Bird Atlas (BBA).
The breeding
bird atlas is a comprehensive, systematic field survey of the
occurrence and distribution of breeding birds. Surveyors record
evidence of breeding status for each species observed. Quite
simply, a breeding bird atlas is a “snapshot” of all species in
a specific region during a specific time period.
Beginning in
2009, volunteers throughout Minnesota began surveying the
northeast quadrant (3mi x 3mi) of every township in the state.
This means we have until 2013 to complete surveys in 2352
Priority Blocks. Participants select a Priority Block and survey
the habitat types within that block during the breeding season,
recording the breeding status of each species seen. The goal of
the survey is to identify as many different
species as the surveyor finds within a block and record the
strongest breeding evidence for each species (e.g. adult
carrying nesting material).
Last year
volunteer surveyors documented 228 species including 188
confirmed breeding species reported. We are just beginning to
see the pictures emerge of current, confirmed breeding
distributions in Minnesota. With each year of the project we
will cover more survey areas so more complete pictures will
emerge as new pieces are added to the species distribution
puzzle.
The second year
of the five year survey is now underway as March and April bring
opportunities for volunteers to get outdoors and begin
documenting breeding evidence of early breeding species and to
explore new survey areas for the atlas survey.
Volunteer bird
watchers with all levels of experience can contribute. There are
many opportunities for you to participate, whether you want to
document breeding birds in your own backyard or neighborhood, or
survey a Priority Block in a geographical area of special
interest. By participating you can as improve your
identification and observational skills, learn about bird
behavior, explore new birding sites, as well as have fun AND
contribute to bird conservation.
The Minnesota
BBA is a great way for anyone to enjoy, share, and increase your
interest in birds and contribute to bird conservation.
Participating in the Atlas is an opportunity to contribute to
something important, to ‘bird with a purpose’.
Our goal for
2010 is to complete surveys in 500 Priority Blocks; to make that
happen we need the help of all interested bird watchers.
Check out
www.mnbba.org for more information or contact the Project
Coordinator, Bonnie Sample, at 651-739-9332, or
bsample@audubon.org and get connected to an Atlas
Coordinator in your area. Please join us!
|
