Welcome to the Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas

Atlas results show bird population changes over the last 20 years

Birds can tell us a lot about the environment in which we live.  Because they are sensitive to environmental stressors and occupy virtually all terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats, knowing where birds are and what habitats they use can help us assess ecosystem health.  The Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas is a five-year project to determine the distribution and abundance of all bird species breeding in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.  Since 2006, over 1,000 volunteers have spent 45,000 hours combing the Maritimes in search of breeding birds, and now it is time to put that data to use!

Atlas Latest News

20 Februray 2012 - Sneak Peak at Atlas Data Analyses

Although you don’t often hear from the Atlas office these days, we are plugging away at analysing Atlas data in preparation for the upcoming book. One of the more interesting – but time consuming – of the recent analyses we have conducted is the Habitat Association Analysis.

The goal of this extensive analysis was to use information about Maritimes-specific species-habitat characteristics from the data you collected over five years of Atlas field work. We did not want to rely on published habitat descriptions that often refer to distant parts of a species range and that may not describe a species’ unique habitat preferences here in the Maritimes. Our objective was to develop a Maritimes-specific product!

In the Maritimes, Blackpoll Warblers are most often associated with sapling balsam fir and black spruce often in industrial forests. Photo: Dan Busby

Here is how we did the analysis: First we compiled a list of every bird detected on a point count. Since each point count location was associated with a unique UTM co-ordinate, we could match the point count georeferences to spatial land cover and forest inventory data provided by the three provincial natural resource departments. By combining these two spatial data sets, we were able to generate a habitat description for each point count location, based on the set of habitat types, or variables, listed in the provincial land cover data.

This enabled us to describe each species’ habitat association based on the following habitat characteristics: 1) Forest Type (i.e., dominant tree species plus the age of the forest stand); 2) Forest Harvest Regime (e.g., clear cut, plantation, etc.); 3) Human Land Use (e.g., cultivated grassland, cropland, hedgerow, etc.); and, 4) Wetland Type (e.g., bog, fen, freshwater marsh, etc.). Although this sounds complicated, it can be more easily understood by looking at some of the graphs that our Editorial Assistant, Margaret Campbell has generated.

Eastern Wood-Pewees are most often associated with shade tolerant hardwood forests in the Maritimes. Photo: Ally Manthorne

Here is the graph for Eastern Wood-Pewee in the Maritimes (click here to see the provincial habitat graphs for Eastern Wood-Pewee). Major habitat classes are listed along the top of the graph, with more detailed habitat characteristics within the habitat class along the bottom of the graph. Each line in the dot graph represents the habitat association within circular areas, or buffers, of different sizes (50 – 1000m) around each point count location. Red dots indicate that there was a positive association between the species and that habitat type – in other words the species tends to be more frequently detected in that particular habitat. Blue dots indicate that the species-habitat association is negative, or, that the species is less frequently detected in that particular habitat. Darker dots (of either red or blue) indicate that the species-habitat association, or lack thereof, is stronger.

Click on the graph to enlarge the image on your screen

From the Eastern Wood-Pewee habitat graph it can be seen that Eastern Wood-Pewee are most strongly associated with mature shade tolerant hardwood forest, especially with older stands of poplar and pine. It generally avoids young coniferous forests, harvest regimes, human occupied areas and travel routes.

Our Atlas GIS specialist at BSC headquarters, Andrew Couturier, has mapped the relative abundance of breeding bird species across the Maritimes using the point count data. It is interesting to look at the relative abundance map of the Eastern Wood-Pewee in light of its habitat preferences and where they occur in the Maritimes: areas of concentration can be seen in Maritime regions with mature deciduous forest, but also in southern Nova Scotia where there are stands of mature pine. It might seem obvious from your time on the ground Atlassing that Eastern Wood-Pewee like these habitats, and tend to occur in these parts of the Maritimes. It is very useful for conservation planning, however, to have this type of field knowledge corroborated by analyses of Atlas data, and visually displayed in maps and graphs, especially for a species like Eastern Wood-Pewee that has been steadily declining.

Here is the Blackpoll Warbler habitat graph for the Maritimes: (Click here to see the provincial habitat graphs). It shows (as you likely know!), that Blackpoll Warblers are strongly associated with sapling balsam fir as well as sapling and young black spruce stands. In addition, Blackpoll Warblers are found in clear cuts and industrial plantations that have undergone pre-harvest thinning.

 
Click on the graph to enlarge the image on your screen

The abundance map for Blackpoll Warbler nicely illustrates where Blackpoll Warbler typically occur in the Maritimes: at high elevations and in coastal landscapes throughout the region; habitats with a predominance of black spruce and balsam fir forests.

As you can see, we have been quiet but busy at Atlas headquarters over the past while. We have also been analysing and mapping changes in the probability of detection between the first and second Atlases. All of these intriguing maps and graphs will be in the upcoming book: stay tuned for our Maritimes Atlas pre-publication sale sometime this spring! We are excited about the book, and with this glimpse of what’s to come, we hope you are too!

TD Bank to support Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas Publication

We would like to announce that TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (TD FEF) will donate $20,000 to Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas for the hard copy book publication, to be released in late 2012!  

“We are thrilled to support this great initiative,” said Mary Desjardins, Executive Director, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.   And the Atlas is thrilled to have their support. Funding from TD FEF will go to the design and layout of the Atlas publication and will reduce the cost of the book for volunteers and other users. 

30 November 2011 - A Tribute to Brian Dalzell

Brian Dalzell birding from his car .  Photo: Alain Clavette.

In this edition of the Maritimes Atlas Latest News, we pay tribute to Brian Dalzell, one of the MBBA’s most dedicated volunteers, who died suddenly at his Grand Manan home in mid-November 2011. Brian atlassed an amazing 211 squares and observed more species than any other Atlasser. He was also Coordinator of the First Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas during its final two field seasons. To see the final newsletter Brian wrote as First Atlas Coordinator click here http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/First_Atlas_Newsletter_Archive/Winter_1991_Vol_23.PDF. Fred Scott, Chair of the First Atlas Steering Committee, observed in the Forward to the First Atlas: “Brian Dalzell, in addition to superb atlassing skills, brought an apparently inexhaustible capacity to suffer heat, rain, blackflies and cold canned food while living out of a rented van. Without him there would have been huge blank areas in northern and central New Brunswick.”

Brian grew up in Moncton, New Brunswick, the oldest of four boys, but his father was from Grand Manan Island, and the family spent summers at the homestead on Bancroft Point Road, enjoying nature to its fullest. Brian always had a passion for birds, and began watching birds at age 11. He attended his first Moncton Naturalist Club meeting when he was 14, and was the youngest person in New Brunswick to see 300 different species of birds, until his good friend Alain Clavette surpassed his record.

The Christmas Bird Count was one of Brian's passions. Photo: Alain Clavette

After graduating from Holland College in 1987, Brian worked as a journalist for a number of years and is remembered for his well-researched and widely read, nature columns, such as those that appeared in the Quoddy Tides. Brian reported on his bird research in several issues of the Razorbill, now archived on the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station web-site (www.gmwsrs.org). Brian was the author of Grand Manan Birds (3rd ed., 1991) and an author of Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List (2004). For the last few years he served as winter season editor for the Atlantic Canada Region in North American Birds.

Brian was the driving force behind the establishment of a bird observatory and landbird banding station on Grand Manan in 1995, after spending time at the Long Point Bird Observatory to become a Master Bander.  The Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station helped to administer this short-lived Grand Manan Bird Observatory (GMBO) until it was dissolved to create the Fundy Bird Observatory (FBO). Brian loved to involve children in birding adventures when possible and was thrilled to have them attend his banding demonstrations at Anchorage Provincial Park and elsewhere. For a number of years, Brian provided birding tours for the Elderhostel programs run from the Marathon Inn on Grand Manan. He always made it a point to help fellow birders find sought-after birds, and once brought an Indigo Bunting from his mist nets to the ferry parking lot to show departing birders a treasure they had just missed.

Brian demonstrating bird banding to a rapt young audience. Photo: Shareen Zaki

Brian maintained detailed bird sighting records for Grand Manan and New Brunswick, gleaning information from sightings reported to him and to the NatureNB list serve, of which he was one of the original members. He was a founding member and first secretary of the New Brunswick Bird Records Committee. The Christmas bird count was another of Brian’s passions. He participated in many counts each year, often leaving the Grand Manan count to the end of the period so he could take part in others. He was compiler at Moncton 1979-86 and Grand Manan 1979-2005, and was a regional editor in 2010.  Brian also conducted a number of volunteer Breeding Bird Survey routes in southwestern New Brunswick.

Brian was a real student of bird distribution throughout the region and enjoyed visiting more remote or seldom-birded locations within the Atlantic Provinces. He had a special interest in the birds of Labrador where he visited on numerous occasions and in all seasons, and also made frequent trips to Prince Edward Island. He contributed thoughtful commentary and data summaries to birding listservs in all four Atlantic Provinces. Over the last five years, Brian developed his birding skills into a successful environmental consulting business. One of the final projects Brian was investigating was how to get a full time birder on Machias Seal Island to fully document fall migration and to supplement the bi-monthly observations of one of the lightkeepers.                                          Brian birding at Pond Point, Newfoundland 1992. Photo: Halton Dalzell

Brian’s passing is a loss to the Maritimes birding community and to the Atlas, where he was a volunteer species account author. His contributions to bird education and conservation in the Maritimes will live on, however, in the many records he contributed to both Atlases, and to other bird research and monitoring projects throughout the Maritimes.
 

26 September 2011 - Changes in Maritime breeding birds: The results are in!

Populations of Black-throated Blue Warblers are increasing in the Maritimes.  Photo: Dan Busby.

Thanks to 49,000 hours of field work and untold hours of data entry from 1000 volunteers, the results from the second Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas reveal significant changes in bird populations over the 20 years since the first Atlas (1986-1990). Some of the changes have been disturbing, others encouraging, and several were totally unexpected! 

Aerial insectivores like swallows, martins, and swifts are declining across North America, especially in the northeast, possibly due to reduced availability of insect prey. In the first Atlas, breeding evidence for Cliff Swallow was detected in 594 Atlas squares, but dropped to 365 squares during the second Atlas (click the species name to see the map). Similarly, squares with breeding evidence for Bank Swallows declined from 792 to 433. The number of squares with breeding Purple Martins crashed from 82 in the first Atlas to 18 in the second, while squares with Chimney Swift dropped from 470 to 291.

Photo: Purple Martins by Ruth Strohmer

Declines in grassland species like Bobolink, documented throughout North America, were also observed here: Atlas squares with Bobolink decreased from 785 to 599. Agricultural intensification and earlier and more frequent cutting of hay fields likely contributed to this trend. Declines in mature hardwood forest species such as Wood Thrush (183 squares to 65) were also noted, probably related to the reduction and fragmentation of preferred, mature hardwood habitat. Species like Tennessee Warbler, (934 squares down to 600) and Evening Grosbeak (842 to 607) whose populations often erupt in response to Spruce Budworm, have also decreased, as forest management efforts now more effectively suppress budworm outbreaks.

On the other hand, several species increased significantly between Atlases. The unexpected proliferation of some woodland species may be related to forestry practices in the Maritimes. For example, squares occupied by Palm Warblers doubled from 214 to 412. Clear-cutting creates expanses of regenerating conifers that may augment this species’ preferred habitat of scattered low conifers in damp areas. Black-throated Blue Warblers were detected in 398 squares in the first Atlas but 943 in the second! Expanding areas of sapling regeneration in forest clearings and edges from forestry activities, coupled with natural regeneration of old fields, may have triggered this increase, similar to what was seen in Ontario.

Photo: Palm Warbler by Ally Manthorne

Some bird species appear to be expanding northward due to the effects of climate change, particularly those at the north-eastern edge of their range here. These include Turkey Vulture (increased from 7 squares to 130), Eastern Bluebird (115 to 249), and Northern Cardinal (18 to 130). New breeding species in the Maritimes also include ‘southerners’ like Chuck-wills-widow (breeding evidence in 1 square), Red-bellied Woodpecker (6 squares), Carolina Wren (11 squares), and Yellow-throated Vireo (8 squares).

Photo: Red-bellied Woodpecker by  John Chardine

Atlas results also give us good news about species that were once on the brink! Populations of raptors such as the Peregrine Falcon declined sharply in the 1960s and 70s due to the negative effects of DDT. During the first Atlas, Peregrines were present in only 11 squares, but they were recorded in 43 squares in the second Atlas, with breeding confirmed in 26 squares! The number of squares occupied by four other raptor species also increased markedly: Bald Eagle (325 first Atlas, 809 second), Broad-winged Hawk (412 first, 645 second), Red–tailed Hawk (541 first, 829 second), and Merlin (233 first, 621 second).

Stay tuned for more intriguing results as the Atlas moves toward publication. In the meantime, detailed species maps are already available on the Atlas web-site, at www.mba-aom.ca.

The Atlas has a new Editorial Assistant!

We are pleased to inform you that Margaret Campbell has joined the Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas as Editorial Assistant.  Margaret has worked for CWS in Ottawa and was one of the people responsible for putting together the Dendroica program (www.natureinstruct.org), that many of you have used, so she brings considerable organisational and data analysis skills to the project!  Margaret will be working on key data analyses for the Atlas and will be helping with document management and editing during the writing, reviewing and editing stages of Atlas production. You can reach Margaret at: mcampbell@bsc-eoc.org or 506-364-5089
 

26 June 2011 - Needed for the MBBA: Cool cover photo and species pictures

The many tasks involved in the development and production of the Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas Book are moving ahead. The Atlas database is being extensively reviewed, we have evaluated book designers, and we have just assigned species to our volunteer account writers. However, we still need high quality photographs for a number of bird species to accompany the accounts in the book. Please click on this link http://www.mba-aom.ca/download/photo_wishlist.pdf to download a list of the species for which first-rate photos are still required. To find out more about guidelines for the quality and composition of Atlas photographs, please see pages 11 – 12 of the MBBA Fall newsletter at
http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/Newsletter_Fall_2010_English.pdf

We are also searching for that perfect cover photo for the book, preferably of a photogenic species that is characteristic of the Maritimes! Please send your pictures to Atlas photo editor John Chardine at: john.chardine@ec.gc.ca. Check your files to see if you have suitable images, or get out your cameras and head out on a different kind of Atlassing adventure to capture photographic evidence for those remaining species still on the list!


Photo: Common Nighthawk by Roy LaPointe

15 April 2011 - Are you missing birding? Support the Atlas through the 2011 Baillie Birdathon!

For those of us who have eagerly anticipated each new season of atlassing in the Maritimes, this year may feel empty since the fieldwork portion of the Maritimes Atlas is now over. However, atlassers can still use their birding skills to make a meaningful contribution to the Maritimes Atlas this spring, and put in a solid day of birding, by participating in the 2011 Baillie Birdathon.


Each spring, more than 7,000 people across Canada, and from several other countries, participate, or sponsor someone, in the Baillie Birdathon. How does it work? Participating birders find sponsors and then pick a 24-hour period any time in May, to find as many bird species as they can. Participants can be sponsored at a flat rate or on a per-species basis. Birders can designate their favourite conservation organization to receive a portion of the funds they raise, including the Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas.


Participation is free and birders will receive a 2011 Baillie Birdathon t-shirt, featuring an image by the Maritimes’ own John Chardine, photo editor for the Atlas. As well, participants have a chance to win some fantastic prizes, including an all-inclusive guided tour to Central Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, or Quebec, for participants who raise over $250!

How to Support the Maritimes Atlas through the Birdathon

When you register for the Baillie Birdathon on your own, or as part of a team, you can designate the Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas as the organization to receive a portion of the funds you raise! A full 50% of your funds will go towards the Maritimes Atlas project. Here are four ways to participate in the Birdathon, and at the same time support the Atlas. Be sure to designate the Atlas as the club  to receive part of the funds when you register on your own or as part of a team:

1. Create your own Birdathon team: recruit your friends and family!

2. Go it alone as an individual Birdathon-er: Register your own one-person team.

3. Join your fellow birders on an existing Birdathon team. Teams are listed on-line at the web link below.

4. If you are short on birding time, consider sponsoring a Birdathon participant who is birding on behalf of the Atlas such as Becky Whittam and family. Here is the link to Becky’s Birdathon page:
http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPageID=1914&AID=1491&PID=197949
Click “Sponsor Us” to make a donation. Fifty percent of the funds that Becky raises will go towards the Atlas.  Thanks Becky!

The Baillie Fund has provided Travel Grants to Atlassers and Regional Coordinators in past years, so the funds go to a very worthwhile cause whether it is the Maritimes Atlas or the Baillie Fund in general.

To find out more about the Birdathon and for helpful birding hints, please visit http://www.gifttool.com/athon/AthonDetails?ID=1914&AID=1491 or contact BSC at:
Bird Studies Canada 1-888-448-BIRD (2473); birdathon@birdscanada.org

Hope to see you out there!
 

25 January 2011 - Who will make the Top Ten most common species this time around? Comparing the First and Second Atlas

We thought you might like to see some interesting results from all the volunteer data that have been entered in the last while. One analysis is a comparison of the ten most common species from our Atlas to the top ten from the first Atlas.

Top Ten Species of this Second 2006-2010 Atlas

* The total number of Atlas squares in the 2006-2010 Atlas = 1770 but at time of writing only 1686 of those have recorded species and effort data. However, these results will change as more atlasser data comes in.

In comparison, take a look at the top ten most common species with Confirmed Breeding during the first Atlas (1986-1990). Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows were in the top then, whereas in this Atlas they have declined to the 29th (TRES) and the 52nd (BARS) most common species! On the other hand, Magnolia Warbler is now the fifth most common species with Confirmed Breeding, while it was 13th during the first Atlas. Similarly, Black-capped Chickadee was 14th last time round, but has now moved up to be the fourth most common species.

Top Ten Species of the First (1986-1990) Atlas

* Of a total of 1682 squares in the first Atlas (1986-1990), 1541 were surveyed.

These lists were generated from the data summaries feature on the website. To get them, click on Data and Maps and then click Data Summaries from the drop-down menu. Select the First Atlas option, and under What years do you want to display choose All Years Combined. Then go to item number 4: View Species List for… Maritimes and click View. (Note: To determine the most common species you will have to download the results using the green button to the right – this will put them into an Excel table for you, which you could sort and explore further.) Once you have downloaded First Atlas results, repeat the search, but select the Second Atlas option. Remember, since all the data has not yet been entered, these Top Ten lists are likely to change and it is possible that the American Redstart may overtake the Northern Flicker, as an example.

As data continue to pour in, we encourage you to explore the many types of data results that are available on the Data Summaries page of the website. For example, you can find the list of regions or squares reporting a given species (under option # 6). Pick your favourite species and try it! The data summary options are available for the first and second Atlas, so you can compare differences and similarities between the current Atlas results and those of twenty years ago.

Stu Tingley photographed this handsome Magnolia Warbler in Jolicure, NB last June. Preliminary results have seen Maggies move from 13th spot up to 5th on our Top Ten list. Photo: Stuart Tingley

Please keep up the good work!

An interesting phenomenon occurs around the end of January each year, and this year is no exception. Suddenly, traffic on the Atlas website surges and a flood of paper forms fills the mailboxes of Regional Coordinators and Atlas staff as we scramble to make the data entry deadline.

This rate of data entry this year is wonderful, and many of you are entering data from previous years! (It is not too late – just select the year at the top of the data entry page). You can still send in your paper forms but please do so quickly, so that the data you worked hard to gather will be included in the book. You could also fax forms to us at the number below.

QUESTIONS ABOUT REQUIREMENTS FOR RARE/COLONIAL FORMS

Many of you may have questions about the auto-reminder emails sent out last month. Please remember these are automated messages and in some cases may not apply to your specific circumstance. So, if you are asking, “Do I really have to fill out a Rare/Colonial bird form for a Canada Warbler I saw in 2006, or a Turkey Vulture I recorded as H?" In short: “no” and “no”. Please read on for more details.

Bald Eagle or Turkey Vulture: Rare/Colonial forms are only required for BAEA and TUVU sightings if breeding was confirmed (NB, NY, FY, etc).

Canada Warbler, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Olive-sided Flycatcher:
Rare/Colonial are not required for any Atlas sightings in 2006 and 2007 of the four species added to the Maritimes Rare list in 2008 (CAWA, CONI, CHSW, OSFL). These forms are only needed for these species for sightings in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Colonial species:
1) Rare/Colonial forms are only required for colonial species if you saw them at what might be considered a Breeding Colony - defined by the presence of two or more nests at one location; UNLESS the colonial species is also considered Maritimes Rare, or if it is Regionally Rare and you saw it in that region, THEN you always need a Rare/Colonial form (e.g. Chimney Swift).

2) You do not need to fill out a Rare/Colonial form for non-rare colonial nesters if you saw the birds away from a colony and recorded them as H or X.

Double-crested Cormorant. Photo: Denis Doucet

Please feel free to contact us by e-mail or phone at the numbers below for help with any questions you might have about data entry. We also encourage you to check your Atlas Guide or consult the Resources menu on the Atlas website.

The deadline for submitting your Atlas data on-line has been extended to allow Atlassers additional time to contribute their data. Please enter your data or send in your forms soon, to make certain that all your cool sightings and valuable time and effort get in the book! And don’t forget to check out the fall newsletter at:  http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/Newsletter_Fall_2010_English.pdf

How to contact us:

Atlas Coordinator Kate Bredin: 1 (506) 364-5045  or  1-866-5ATLAS5 (866-528-5275)
kbredin@bsc-eoc.org   or   atlasmaritimes@gmail.com

Bird Projects Assistant Ally Manthorne: 1 (506) 364-5196  or  amanthorne@bsc-eoc.org 

Kate and Ally are located in the Environment Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service building:

Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas
Bird Studies Canada
PO Box 6227, 17 Waterfowl Lane
Sackville, NB E4L 4N1
Fax: 506-364-5062
 

Thank-you to the many photographers who have given us permission to use their photographs for various Atlas publications and on the Atlas website. We really appreciate it!

 
Follow the project's progress using the online maps!

The 1st Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas is available online!  Click the image below, or contact the Atlas Office for your paper copy.

"Completing the Maritimes Atlas" in BirdWatch Canada:

"O Canada Warbler"
in BirdWatch Canada:

Conservation applications of atlases in BirdWatch Canada:

Conservation has gone Rusty! Read about it in BirdWatch:

Join the Atlas Listserv

Breeding Bird Atlases are coast to coast!

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