North American
Breeding
Bird Survey
North American
Breeding
Bird Survey
The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is the most widespread program for monitoring the continent's breeding bird populations. The program includes about 3,700 roadside routes, among which 2,750 are surveyed each year. Each route consists of 50 stops placed at 0.5-mile intervals along a 24.5-mile stretch of road. Routes are surveyed once a year by an observer who is familiar with the sight and song of birds in the region. At each of the 50 stops, the observer records the number of individuals of every species, either heard or seen, during a three-minute period; only birds detected with 0.25 mile of the road are counted. Surveys begin a half-hour before sunrise (no earlier than 2:30 am in Alaska) and are completed within 4-5 hours. Most routes in Alaska are surveyed between the second and fourth weeks of June. Because of differences in the skills of observers, the same observer is encouraged to survey the route for a number of years.
The initiation of the Partners in Flight program in
Alaska increased interest in conducting BBS routes in the state. Coverage of routes in
Alaska has more than doubled since 1992. Currently, over 75 routes are surveyed annually
in Alaska and more than 200 species have been recorded. In a typical year, observers count
about 35,000 individual birds along BBS routes in the state. For more information contact:
Alaska Science Center - Biological Science Office