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"BBS"



All,

I've been alerted to the fact that I succumbed to the "everyone ought to know what I'm talking about" syndrome (AKA the "4 letter Bird Codes are alright" syndrome). A BBS is a Breeding Bird Survey route. This is a data collection program coordinated by the USGS (US Geological Survey) and the Canadian Wildlife Service with the help of thousands of volunteers all over North America. These are 25 mile-long routes along which the volunteer stops every 1/2 mile and records every bird he (or she) sees or hears for 3 minutes. We usually start about 1/2 hour before sunrise, and the route usually takes 4-5 hours to run. The program started in 1966, and some routes have been run virtually every year since then. This project has generated masses of tangible, "hard" data on the distribution and population trends of a large percentage of the species composing our breeding avifauna.

You can learn more about the program at

http://www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/

You can view one of the products of this research program at

http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/distr/birds/breedrng/breedrng.htm#contents

(This site contains distribution maps for BBS species in 5 year increments from 1970 - 1989)

I've run BBS routes in Nevada (Smoke Creek Desert), Missouri (northern part of the Bootheel ["Occupied Arkansas"]), and here in Wayne and Johnston Cos. In my opinion, its definitely something worth doing (but it is an awfully early morning...).


Take care,

Clyde Sorenson
Clayton and Raleigh