Abstract
The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) was initiated in 1966 in the U.S. and Canada as a means to collect long-term data on songbird population trends. It is coordinated in Canada by the Canadian Wildlife Service and in the U.S. by the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey. The BBS is the core survey of the Canadian Landbird Monitoring Strategy. In 1995 approximately 445 BBS routes were run in Canada. The BBS leaped into the new millennium with a record participation rate of 455 routes run in 2000!
The BBS is a volunteer survey. In Canada, participants run their routes between 28 May and 7 July. Volunteers are encouraged to run their routes during the peak of breeding season, usually the first two weeks of June. The starting point and starting direction of routes are selected randomly in order to sample a range of habitats. Each participant runs his/her individual route for as many consecutive years as possible. Routes consist of 50 stops spaced 0.8 km apart along a 39.4 km route. Participants record the total number of individual bird species heard or seen within 0.4 km of each stop during a 3-minute observation period. Data on starting and finishing time, and weather conditions are also recorded.
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