BBS: Experienced Birders Needed to fill Breeding Bird Survey routes in NJ
Experienced birders are needed to fill the 7 vacant Breeding Bird Survey routes in New Jersey:
Route 18 - Midvale - begins in Ringwood and ends in Jefferson Twp
Route 22 - Dover - begins in Kinnelon and ends in N. Chester Twp
Route 23 - Pottersville - begins in Bedminster and ends in Hillsborough Twp
Route 26 - Cranbury - begins in South Brunswick and ends in Manalapan Twp
Route 27 - Roosevelt - begins in N Hanover Twp and ends in S Monroe Twp
Route 107 - Winslow - begins in Winslow and ends in Hamilton Twp
Route 111 - Holmansville2 - begins in Jackson Twp and ends in Old Bridge Twp
A map of general route locations can be viewed at: Route Location Maps: New Jersey
Requirements for participation
- Access to suitable transportation to complete a survey.
- Good hearing and eyesight.
- The ability to identify all breeding birds in the area by sight and sound.
- Knowledge of bird songs is extremely important, because most birds counted on these surveys are singing males.
- New BBS participants must also successfully complete the BBS Methodology Training Program before their data will be used in any BBS analyses.
This is on a first-come, first-served basis. If you or someone you know meet the requirements are are interested, please email your route choice(s) and mailing address to me at spetzinger.ensp@embarqmail.com
Background: For those of you not familiar with the Breeding Bird Survey, it is a long-term, large-scale, international avian monitoring program initiated in 1966 to track the status and trends of North American bird populations. The USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the Canadian Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Center, jointly coordinate the BBS program.
Survey Protocol: Each year during the height of the avian breeding season, June for most of the U.S. and Canada, participants skilled in avian identification collect bird population data along roadside survey routes. Each survey route is 24.5 miles long with stops at 0.5-mile intervals. At each stop, a 3-minute point count is
conducted. During the count, every bird seen within a 0.25-mile radius or heard is recorded. Surveys start one-half hour before local sunrise and take about 5 hours to complete. Over 4100 survey routes are located across the continental U.S. and Canada.
Once analyzed, BBS data provide an index of population abundance that can be used to estimate population trends and relative abundances at various geographic scales. Trend estimates for more than 420 bird species and all raw data are currently available via the BBS web site. That and more information about the survey can be found at their website: http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 3/31/2010 1:00 PM 
Categories: Birds, Events and Premieres
Tags: breeding bird survey routes USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center populations avian birders Canadian Wildlife Service National Wildlife Research Center monitoring
Categories: Birds, Events and Premieres
Tags: breeding bird survey routes USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center populations avian birders Canadian Wildlife Service National Wildlife Research Center monitoring
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