I had a good response on my first request filling 11 routes. There are still
19 vacant routes. The Panhandle and South Texas are in the greatest need.
A description of the program and a listing of the routes with a brief
description can be found below.
This is my 2nd request for volunteer sign-up to conduct roadside breeding bird
surveys (BBS) in Texas during 2020. There are 2 vacancies in West Texas, 4 in
the Panhandle, 3 in North Central Texas, 1 in Central, 2 in Northeast Texas, 0
in Southeast Texas, 2 in Coastal Prairie, and 5 in South Texas. Read below for
more details.
For those not familiar with the survey methodology, the BBS is the National
Survey which is the primary source for breeding bird population trends in the
nation. This survey has about 3000 randomly located routes across the United
States. Each route is 24.5 miles long with 50 stops spaced 0.5 miles apart.
At each stop during a 3-minute period, the observer tallies all birds seen
within ¼ mile and all birds heard. The route lasts from 30 minutes before
sunrise until you finish which is normally about 11 a.m. The route needs to be
run ONCE each year during the months of May or June; exact dates vary with each
route. It might require a pre-survey scouting trip just to familiarize
yourself with the route, and a little paper/computer work after the route is
done. The observer needs to be able to identify most of the birds along the
route by call and all by sight. Along routes in agricultural areas, this might
only mean about 20 species by call, but in more complex forested areas it might
mean 70 species.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2018. Adaptive Harvest
National and local conservation organizations regularly use BBS data (see
www.stateofthebirds.org) in their analysis. They focus very strongly on
breeding bird population trends generated by YOUR DATA, and also used bird
density data extensively. Partners In Flight has developed models to estimate
breeding density and distribution for all species they are tracking with BBS
data. Other examples of products created with BBS data are:
Management: 2019 Hunting Season. U.S. Department of Interior, Washington, D.C.
72 pp.
• Seamans, M. E. 2018. Band-tailed pigeon population status, 2018. U.S.
DOI, Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management,
Washington, D.C.
• Kramer et al. 2018. Population trends in Vermivora warblers are linked
to strong migratory connectivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences 115: E3192-E3200.
• Betts et al. 2018. Old‐growth forests buffer climate‐sensitive bird
populations from warming. Diversity and Distributions 24:439–447.
• Fedy et al. 2018. Distribution of priority grassland bird habitats in
the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada. Avian Conservation and Ecology 13(1).
• Ruegg et al. 2018. Ecological genomics predicts climate vulnerability
in an endangered southwestern songbird. Ecology Letters 21: 1085-1096.
• Using North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data to guide
conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region
(https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/refuges/hapet.php<https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fws.gov%2Fmountain-prairie%2Frefuges%2Fhapet.php&data=02%7C01%7C%7C85fe1d75858f4f99174b08d6856a7481%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636843089594208641&sdata=7hhIcfFqr4iJhS4olO413XqXOaMH5YmMoG37JonDI9M%3D&reserved=0>)
• Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database
(http://pif.birdconservancy.org/ACAD<https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpif.birdconservancy.org%2FACAD&data=02%7C01%7C%7C85fe1d75858f4f99174b08d6856a7481%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636843089594218634&sdata=bXN9BJaLc2wfO%2B6g3LyBBNeR0cbF%2BcrzIgBPszfcI%2Fg%3D&reserved=0>)
• Partners in Flight Population Estimates Database
(http://pif.birdconservancy.org/PopEstimates<https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpif.birdconservancy.org%2FPopEstimates&data=02%7C01%7C%7C85fe1d75858f4f99174b08d6856a7481%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636843089594228644&sdata=cR0D8mOZDL94v559pM7xavSewxBo95hP4TDmpAXh5rU%3D&reserved=0>)
• US Air Force Bird Avoidance Model
(http://www.usahas.com/faq.html<https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usahas.com%2Ffaq.html&data=02%7C01%7C%7C85fe1d75858f4f99174b08d6856a7481%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636843089594238649&sdata=Xl6MYsJbQ83JvMpkc4NjBaXkYtWfIf7tX8Nm9ZKaRUM%3D&reserved=0>)
• US Environmental Protection Agency Report on Environment
(https://cfpub.epa.gov/roe/indicator.cfm?i=83<https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcfpub.epa.gov%2Froe%2Findicator.cfm%3Fi%3D83&data=02%7C01%7C%7C85fe1d75858f4f99174b08d6856a7481%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636843089594248660&sdata=8HGSO1jJUWYqhM6FCoy9nWLYES%2FQ%2FWa%2Fld0xQE23zpU%3D&reserved=0>)
www.birds.cornell.edu/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DECLINE-OF-NORTH-AMERICAN-AVIFAUNA-SCIENCE-2019.pdf
Texas has 196 BBS routes and 19 vacancies. The National Office has started
listing routes as vacant when they have not received data from a volunteer for
two years. If you see your route listed as vacant, check your files and
resubmit your data because the National Office has not received it.
This seems like a lot of routes, but it is not for a state our size. Due to
the variability of the data, we are trying to run at least 14 routes per
ecological area and there are 10 ecological areas in Texas. This should
provide us a statistically valid sample of population trends of birds breeding
near highways. We are getting close to obtaining this sample size in every
bird region. We always have problems getting qualified birders to do routes in
the more rural parts of the State. While there are plenty of good birders in
Texas, the birders are concentrated in urban areas and the birds are spread
throughout the State causing logistics problems of running routes in remote
parts of the Texas. A classic example is West Texas and the Panhandle, lots of
country and few birders.
When you volunteer, I will need your NAME, MAILING ADDRESS, E-MAIL, TELEPHONE
NUMBER and ROUTE of interest. I can be contacted at:
brentortego@xxxxxxxxxxx
Vacant routes are listed below by geographic areas. Species data for each
route can be obtained at the link =
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/RouteMap/Map.cfm. Those areas with the largest ;
numbers of vacancies are the areas needing the most help.
PANHANDLE
Route 100 Channing Hartley County
1967 – 2017; 46 years; 23-46 species; expect 40
8 species of sparrows
Route 101 Pantex Armstrong County
1974 – 2018; 33 years; 17-34 species; expect 25
High Plains mix of species
Route 368 Lakeview Hall County
1995 – 2018; 23 years; 34-48 species; expect 45
Route 371 Panhandle Gray
1994 – 2018; 27 years; 26-38 years; expect 30
High Plains species mix
WEST TEXAS
Route 099 Slaughter Hudspeth County
1968 – 2014; 27 years; 11-34 species, expect 30
Desert community
Route 330 Coyanda Draw Pecos County
1994 – 2018; 22 years; 22-36 species; expect 25
West Texas plains.
NORTHCENTRAL TEXAS
Route 076 Olney Young County
1969 – 2017; 43 years; 29-60 years; expect 50
Good # quail, 6 species of sparrows
Route 359 Greenville Hunt County
1999 – 2017; 18 years; 29-54 species; expect 50
6 species of flycatchers
Route 353 Hawley Jones County
1994 – 2013; 18 years; 34-50 species; expect 45
CENTRAL TEXAS
NORTHEAST TEXAS
Route 056 Morton Harrison County
1970 – 2012; 30 years; 40-76 species; expect mid 50’s
13 species of warblers; historic Bachman’s Sparrow site
Route 071 Dike Hopkins County
1969 – 2016; 37 years; 31-64 species, expect mid 50’s
6 species of woodpeckers and warblers
SOUTHEAST TEXAS
COASTAL PRAIRIE
Route 13 Indianola Calhoun County
1967 – 2014; 40 years; 21-60 species, expect 50
Coastal mix of species. Historically had Black Rail.
Route 306 Oyster Lake Matagorda County
1995 – 2019; 19 years; 44-80 species, expect 60
Mixture of coastal marsh and ag lands.
SOUTH TEXAS
Route 029 Lone Oak Wilson County
1967 – 2018; 46 years; 31-63 species, expect 45.
Typical Coastal Prairie Species
Route 098 Raymondville Willacy County
1969 – 2014; 43 years; 28-72 species; expect 50
South Texas mix.
Route 115 El Sauz Starr County
1993 – 2015; 15 years; 45-59 species; expect 50
Typical Brush Country species.
Route 409 Millett 2 La Salle County
2013 – 2017; 5 years; 50-60 species, expect 55
3 species of Orioles, lots of quail
Route 410 Cavasara Creek Zapata County
1995 – 2013; 12 years; 28-56 species; expect 50
Brush Country community
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/RouteMap/Map.cfm location of route maps
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBS/learning/ BBS Methods
Brent Ortego
brentortego@xxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:brentortego@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Victoria, TX
