Atlas Results Released Showing Status of Vermont Breeding Birds
OutdoorHub 02.09.12
Vermont’s second “Breeding Bird Atlas” is now available, reflecting a quarter century of change in bird species reproducing in the state according to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.
The Atlas is a systematic survey of bird populations breeding in the state, based on information gathered by volunteer citizen scientists over several years. The results can now be compared with data from Vermont’s first Atlas, published in 1985. The data are available, with detailed summaries and maps for each of 200 species, on the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE) website (http://www.vtecostudies.org/vbba/).
A full-color hard cover Atlas book is now in production and scheduled to be released early in 2013. Complete with maps, data tables, full species accounts, photos, and interpretive chapters, the publication will serve as a rich medium for Atlas results.
“The first Atlas was a pivotal tool for guiding management plans and conservation efforts,” said Steve Parren, Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s wildlife diversity director. “But after more than 25 years of environmental and land-use changes affecting where birds breed, the second generation Atlas is now providing important information that reflects changes in the distribution of bird species that reproduce in Vermont.”
“Not surprisingly, some species that gained in response to management included osprey, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, common loon, and wild turkey,” said Parren. “Some other gainers were Canada goose, Carolina wren, cooper’s Hawk, blue-winged warbler and mallard.”
Common nighthawk and whip-poor-will were among the species with the sharpest declines. Several grassland species, such as upland sandpiper, eastern meadowlark and vesper sparrow also show losses, in addition to shrubland species such as brown thrasher and eastern towhee. Other species that declined include boreal chickadee, green-winged teal, purple martin, and bank swallow.
“Nearly 350 citizen scientists of all ages and backgrounds spent more than 30,000 hours afield documenting breeding birds across the state,” said Rosalind Renfrew, director of the project at VCE. “We have transformed their hard work into an accessible and informative data retrieval system and summary.”
VCE completed field work for the Atlas project in 2007, supported by a State Wildlife Grant from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (VFWD) and private donors.
VCE staff and some very dedicated volunteers developed distribution maps for all of Vermont’s breeding birds, screened the data for quality control, evaluated patterns of change in data from the original Atlas, wrote species accounts, and made recommendations for bird conservation in Vermont.
The Atlas was a collaborative effort by VCE, VFWD, Vermont Institute of Natural Science, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Natural Resources, Audubon Vermont, Northwoods Environmental Stewardship Center, National Wildlife Federation, and Vermont’s local Audubon chapters.
The list of private and governmental organizations already using the Atlas data includes the Vermont National Guard, the Vermont Natural Resource Conservation Service, Chittenden County Circumferential Highway project, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Canada’s Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of Vermont, and several other universities throughout the United States.
“We’ve received lots of requests for Atlas data already, and we expect to see even more use of the results now that they are available on the website,” said Renfrew. “The information is no longer limited to researchers or agencies, but is accessible to everyone. This fulfills one of the Atlas project’s major goals, to educate and inform the public, thereby enhancing appreciation and understanding of birds and their conservation.”
