The North American Breeding Bird Survey 1966–2011: Summary Analysis and Species Accounts

Sauer, John R.; Link, William A.; Fallon, Jane E.; Pardieck, Keith L.; Ziolkowski, David J.

doi:10.3996/nafa.79.0001

Cited by 449 publications

(606 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Wood thrush breed exclusively in mature deciduous woodlands and winter in tropical forests below 1000 m in elevation [18]. Although widespread, wood thrush have undergone an overall population decline greater than 60% since 1966 [19]. Recent research suggests that this decline has been primarily driven by the loss of non-breeding habitat [20], although the modelling framework used in that study did not examine how key factors, such as climate and seasonal interactions, may have contributed to population declines.…”

Section: Materials and Methods (A) Study Species Monitoring Data Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying drivers of population dynamics for a migratory bird throughout the annual cycle

2016

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Worldwide, migratory species are undergoing rapid declines but understanding the factors driving these declines is hindered by missing information about migratory connectivity and the lack of data to quantify environmental processes across the annual cycle. Here, we combined range-wide information about migratory connectivity with global remote-sensing data to quantify the relative importance of breeding and non-breeding environmental processes to persistent long-term population declines of a migratory songbird, the wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). Consistent with theoretical predictions about population limitation of migratory birds, our results suggest that habitat loss and climate have contributed to the observed declines in wood thrush breeding abundance, yet the relative importance of breeding versus non-breeding factors is population-specific. For example, high-abundance core breeding populations appear to be more limited by habitat loss, whereas low-abundance, peripheral populations appear to be limited by climate-driven seasonal interactions. Further, our analysis indicates that the relative impact of breeding habitat loss is at least three to six times greater than the impact of equivalent nonbreeding habitat loss and therefore the steepest regional declines have likely been driven by the loss of breeding habitat. These results underscore the need for population-specific conservation strategies implemented throughout the annual cycle to reverse long-term declines.

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Section: Materials and Methods (A) Study Species Monitoring Data Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The BBS is a roadside survey conducted annually in May and June since 1966 across most of North America [19]. The survey consists of 50 three-minute point counts conducted along a 40.2 km route.…”

Section: Materials and Methods (A) Study Species Monitoring Data Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying drivers of population dynamics for a migratory bird throughout the annual cycle

2016

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“…Our results also suggest that ARUs could be effectively used to implement repeat visit survey designs that could correct false absence and detection probabilities for BBS surveys to improve power and precision to identify trends, particularly for rare or hard to detect species. These survey designs may be particularly fruitful given that trend precision is generally low for rare or hard to detect species (Sauer et al 2013). The low detectability of BBS is particularly problematic when data are being used to generate population size estimates (e.g., Blancher et al 2013, see also Haché et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ARUs had 2 omnidirectional microphones, recorded in stereo, and were programmed to record at a sampling rate of 48,000 Hz. Between 18 and 20 June, 3 BBS routes were surveyed by experienced observers (R. F. Pankratz and S. Hache) following the standard BBS protocol (Sauer et al 2013). In addition to the standard BBS protocol, surveyors assigned a distance band (0-50 m, 50-100 m, or >100 m) to each individual bird.…”

Section: Study Area and Sampling Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential benefits of augmenting road-based breeding bird surveys with autonomous recordings

Mahon¹,

Haché²,

Sólymos³

et al. 2017

ACE

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ABSTRACT. The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is one of the longest annual avian surveys and has the greatest spatiotemporally extensive coverage in the Western Hemisphere. Although this important survey provides trend estimates for more than 400 species, it has limited coverage in the boreal forest and biases in representation and detectability that complicate inference. Thus, there is a need to evaluate the potential of new technologies and analytical approaches to increase coverage and improve monitoring efficiency. We documented variation in counts between BBS surveys (hereafter "human BBS") and different on-road and forest-edge surveys using autonomous recording units (ARUs) from 3 routes in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Specifically, we quantified percent differences (i.e., bias in counts) in species richness, abundance indices of birds, and species-specific variation in counts between human BBS and ARU-based surveys conducted on-road and at the forest edge at different dates and times of day. We also generated on-road effective detection radius (EDR) estimates for 15 species and tested for species-specific differences in EDR to explain bias in counts between on-road and forest-edge ARU surveys. Overall, species richness and abundance indices in human BBS surveys were higher than forest-edge ARU surveys conducted simultaneously and when similar forest-edge ARU surveys were conducted at sunset and a week earlier in June. However, there was no difference when comparing values from human BBS with on-road ARU BBS and forest-edge ARU surveys conducted at sunrise. Extracting the maximum count per species from 4 types of 3-minute forest-edge surveys increased counts by 62% and 64% for species richness and abundance indices, respectively, relative to human BBS, but the importance of this bias differed considerably among the 10 most common species in the study area. Our results suggest that false-negative bias in species detection could be corrected with appropriate methods, and ARUs deployed at the forest edge near BBS stops could be used to increase data quality of on-road surveys. When combined with appropriate correction factors to adjust for surveys done at the forest edge, ARUs could also be used to increase the geographic coverage of boreal surveys by allowing inexperienced volunteers to collect BBS data along winter or secondary roads in remote locations. Avantages

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“…Point counts generally make use of trained observers who conduct surveys over a set duration during which all birds seen or heard within a specified distance of the observer are counted (Ralph et al 1995, Matsuoka et al 2014. Point count protocols are widely used in monitoring programs such as the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to infer population status, trends, and habitat relationships, thus providing an important tool for species conservation (Peterjohn and Sauer 1999, Sauer et al 2003, Sauer et al 2013. For many groups of birds, detections during point count surveys are primarily based upon acoustic cues Emlen 1985, Brewster andSimons 2009); therefore, acoustic recording technologies offer an alternative sampling method to supplement traditional point counts (Hobson et al 2002, Klingbeil andWillig 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microphone variability and degradation: implications for monitoring programs employing autonomous recording units

Turgeon¹,

Wilgenburg²,

Drake³

2017

ACE

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ABSTRACT. Autonomous recording units (ARUs) are emerging as an effective tool for avian population monitoring and research. Although ARU technology is being rapidly adopted, there is a need to establish whether variation in ARU components and their degradation with use might introduce detection biases that would affect long-term monitoring and research projects. We assessed whether microphone sensitivity impacted the probability of detecting bird vocalizations by broadcasting a sequence of 12 calls toward an array of commercially available ARUs equipped with microphones of varying sensitivities under three levels (32 dBA, 42 dBA, and 50 dBA) of experimentally induced noise conditions selected to reflect the range of noise levels commonly encountered during avian surveys. We used binomial regression to examine factors influencing probability of detection for each species and used these to examine the impact of microphone sensitivity on the effective detection area (ha) for each species. Microphone sensitivity loss reduced detection probability for all species examined, but the magnitude of the effect varied between species and often interacted with distance. Microphone sensitivity loss reduced the effective detection area by an average of 25% for microphones just beyond manufacturer specifications (-5 dBV) and by an average of 66% for severely compromised microphones (-20 dBV). Microphone sensitivity loss appeared to be more problematic for low frequency calls where reduction in the effective detection area occurred most rapidly. Microphone degradation poses a source of variation in avian surveys made with ARUs that will require regular measurement of microphone sensitivity and criteria for microphone replacement to ensure scientifically reproducible results. We recommend that research and monitoring projects employing ARUs test their microphones regularly, replace microphones with declining sensitivity, and record sensitivity as a potential covariate in statistical analyses of acoustic data. Variabilité et dégradation des microphones: implications pour les programmes de surveillance utilisant des unités d'enregistrement autonomesRÉSUMÉ. Les unités d'enregistrement autonome (UEA) apparaissent comme un outil efficace pour la recherche et le suivi des populations aviaires. Bien que la technologie UEA ait été rapidement adoptée, il est nécessaire d'établir si la variation des composants des UEA et leur dégradation avec l'utilisation pourraient introduire des biais de détection qui affecteraient les projets de recherche et le suivi à long terme. Nous avons évalué si la sensibilité du microphone a une incidence sur la probabilité de détecter les vocalisations d'oiseaux en diffusant une séquence de 12 chants d'oiseaux vers une série d'UEA disponibles dans le commerce, équipées de microphones de sensibilités variables, testés sous trois niveaux (32 dBA, 42 dBA et 50 dBA) de bruit induit expérimentalement. Ces conditions ont été sélectionnées pour reproduire la gamme de niveaux de bruit généralement rencontrés lors des é...

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The North American Breeding Bird Survey 1966–2011: Summary Analysis and Species Accounts

Cited by 449 publications

References 53 publications

Quantifying drivers of population dynamics for a migratory bird throughout the annual cycle

Quantifying drivers of population dynamics for a migratory bird throughout the annual cycle

Potential benefits of augmenting road-based breeding bird surveys with autonomous recordings

Microphone variability and degradation: implications for monitoring programs employing autonomous recording units

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