Year two of an expanded DNR effort to survey Wisconsin's bird population includes a key meeting coming up in early April in Rothschild.
Organizers of a statewide breeding bird survey are looking to recruit new birders to their volunteer corps, gathering information that will guide bird conservation efforts for the next generation.
DNR research scientist Ryan Brady says this citizen-science effort is critical to know just what our bird populations are doing...
“....and the goal is to replicate the same type of survey I heard that was done twenty years ago during the first Breeding Bird Atlas in the late 1990’s, and then be able to get a vey good analysis in the changes in those bird populations during that time....”
Brady says the survey is a citizen-science based bird survey going on across the entire state... "....the main objective is to go out and harness the power of all the volunteer birders in a variety of different habitats, collect all their bird observations, put them onto an online data entry system and thus get a really good snapshot over a five-year period of the relative abundance and distribution of the 200 plus species of birds we have...."
The survey is part of the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II. More than 700 volunteers documented over 1.8 million birds of 229 species in the first year of the five-year survey to document breeding bird distribution and abundance. Organizers hope to grow their volunteer base to more than 1,000 participants this year.
They're inviting birders to report the activities of great horned owls, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, common ravens and other early nesting species, and to register now for the April 1-3 conference at the Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center in Rothschild.
More information is on the DNR website under'weekly news'..
