Chris Merkord

List of natural resources agencies for states, provinces, and territories (no links).

Map of bird conservation regions in North America.

Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs) are ecologically distinct regions in North America with similar bird communities, habitats, and resource management issues. BCRs are a single application of the scale-flexible hierarchical framework of nested ecological units delineated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). The CEC framework comprises a hierarchy of 4 levels of ecoregions. At each spatial level, spatial resolution increases and ecoregions encompass areas that are progressively more similar in their biotic (e.g., plant and wildlife) and abiotic (e.g., soils, drainage patterns, temperature, and annual precipitation) characteristics. BCRs may be partitioned into smaller ecological units when finer scale conservation planning, implementation, and evaluation are necessary. Conversely, BCRs may be aggregated to facilitate conservation partnerships throughout the annual range of a group of species, recognizing that migratory species may use multiple BCRs throughout their annual life cycle. BCRs also facilitate domestic and international cooperation in bird conservation because these areas of relatively homogenous habitats and bird communities traverse state, provincial, and national borders.

A Citizen Science Project for Wintering Grassland Birds Mission Statement: To determine the wintering distribution of grassland species, to identify habitat preferences for these species and utilize these data collected to develop land management recommendations for conservation planning. Most importantly, to give concerned citizens a conservation project that they can contribute their efforts towards while learning how meaningful data are collected and why. Organizing Body: Texas Parks & Wildllife Department

Now in development, the YardMap Network is an NSF-funded project that builds online communities to investigate the impacts of bird-friendly and carbon-neutral practices in backyards, community gardens, and parks. Participants will locate their yards or parks on a Google maps interface, then document their sustainable practices, such as adding native plants, putting up bird feeders, installing a solar panel, or biking to work. YardMap will serve as a detailed site description for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s citizen-science bird observations. By providing access to rich media resources for learning about sustainable practices and enabling people share their maps and practices with each other, YardMap strives to create online conservation communities engaged in real life sustainable practices. The YardMap Network will be tested and launched in 2011, in partnership with the National Audubon Society, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Empire State College’s online alumni program, and the American Community Gardening Association.

Begun in 1997, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first citizen-science program to collect and display real-time data on bird sightings online. Today, the Great Backyard Bird Count is one of the most popular annual events among bird watchers, with nearly 100,000 checklists and more than 11 million birds reported from around the United States and Canada during the four-day period in February. As the data pour in and display on maps, web visitors can explore results from their town, state, or region—and compare patterns with those from past years. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society.

Participants in PigeonWatch observe flocks of pigeons in their neighborhoods to help scientists understand the remarkable variation in colors of pigeons. For hundreds of years, humans have bred pigeons for their colors, homing instincts, or racing abilities. Some of these pigeons escaped to the wild, and today’s flocks include birds that may be blue, red, black, white, brown, or mixtures of colors in between. To help scientists understand why pigeons continue to exist in so many different colors, participants count the number of pigeons of each color morph they see, and the colors of courting birds. The project appeals to anyone who enjoys watching pigeons, including urban residents, school groups, and youth groups.

Celebrate Urban Birds engages urban and rural residents in science, cultural, and community activities related to birds. Participants receive or download a free kit with posters, flower seeds, and data forms, then observe a small, defined bird-watching area for 10 minutes and report on the presence or absence of 16 species of birds. The project assesses the value of green spaces for birds, ranging in size from a potted plant to half a basketball court. Launched in 2007, Celebrate Urban Birds has partnered with nearly 5,000 community organizations and distributed more than 100,000 kits in English and Spanish. The National Forum on Children and Nature selected Celebrate Urban Birds as one of 30 nationally significant projects to connect children with the outdoors.

Bird watchers and nature enthusiasts put their observation skills to the test by participating in CamClickr, an innovative online project that engages volunteers in tagging and classifying more than 8 million images of nesting birds. CamClickr uses a gaming approach to provide a friendly spirit of competition through points and awards while users tag images that have been archived from NestCams since 1999. Their efforts help scientists improve the understanding of the basic strategies that birds use to survive and raise their families. CamClickr is made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

By watching NestCams online, visitors from around the world enjoy live images and streaming videos of birds at their nests. During the last decade, the NestCams have displayed compelling footage and commentary on more than 120 nesting attempts by Eastern Bluebirds, Barn Owls, Peregrine Falcons, Wood Ducks, Chimney Swifts, American Kestrels, and other birds. NestCams are a unique learning experience for the study and appreciation of animal behavior, viewed by hundreds of thousands of people in more than 130 countries. NestCams are funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

By finding and monitoring bird nests, NestWatch participants help scientists track the breeding success of birds across North America. Participants witness fascinating behaviors of birds at the nest and collect information on the location, habitat, bird species, number of eggs, and number of young. Scientists use these data to track the reproductive success of North American breeding birds across the continent. Launched in 2007 with funding from the National Science Foundation, NestWatch has collected more than 100,000 nesting records. Combined with historic data, this information will help scientists address how birds are affected by large-scale changes such as global climate change, urbanization, and land use.

Each year, 15,000 people count birds at their feeders for Project FeederWatch. With more than 1.5 million checklists submitted since 1987, FeederWatchers have contributed valuable data enabling scientists to monitor changes in the distribution and abundance of birds. Using FeederWatch data, scientists have studied the influence of nonnative species on native bird communities, examined the association between birds and habitats, and tracked unpredictable movements in winter bird populations. Participants gain from the rewarding experience of watching birds at their feeders and contributing their own observations to reveal larger patterns in bird populations across the continent.

List of citizen science projects administered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

This list of publications highlights ways in which eBird data are being put to use. We would like this list of publications to be as inclusive as possible so if you know of other publications that have made use of eBird, please let us know.

Literature cited in A classification of the bird species of South America. (DRAFT: incomplete and not yet consistently formatted) (many references not yet cited in the list)

Bibliography of Scientific Articles Based on Christmas Bird Count Data The data collected by Christmas Bird Count participants over the years provide a wealth of information to researchers interested in the long-term study of early winter bird populations across North America. The Bibliography below illustrates the value of the work that CBC observers do - as embraced by ornithologists and conservationists. Indeed, the following list is only the beginning, as it represents only the papers found by a few individuals.

eBird offers innovative online tools for birders to keep track of their own lists and contribute their bird sightings for use in science and conservation. Birders, scientists, and conservationists can collect, manage, and store their observations in eBird’s globally accessible database—or use graphing, mapping, and analysis tools to better understand patterns of bird occurrence and the environmental and human factors that influence them. This real-time data resource produces millions of observations per year from across the hemisphere. eBird is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society.

USA. State wildlife action plans outline the steps that are needed to conserve wildlife and habitat before they become more rare and more costly to protect. Taken as a whole, they present a national action agenda for preventing wildlife from becoming endangered.