After censusing Breeding Bird Survey routes annually since 1974, I will be
retiring from them at the end of this survey season. I am therefore
recruiting one or more experienced, dedicated birders to adopt the 3e
routes that I currently census. The BBS is the longest running, most
widespread, and most statistically robust program that tracks population
trends of birds during the breeding season in North America. See
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/ for more on the BBS. To census a BBS route,
the observer should be able to identify all of the birds breeding in the
area of the route by sight and, equally important, by song. Censusing a
route takes between 4 and 5 hours, not including travel time to and from
the route. Ideally, the observer should commit to census the route for
several years to reduce the variability resulting from observer changes.
The 3 routes I run are located in the greater Knoxville area. The Elk
Valley route, 82031, is located in Campbell County and usually has the
highest number of Cerulean Warblers of any Tennessee route. The Smokey
Junction route, 82032, is located in Scott County and has a good diversity
of birds. The Lovell route, 82033, is located in western Knox County. See
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/RouteMap/Map.cfm for more details on these
routes.
To help introduce my successors to these routes, I am invite interested
observers to accompany me when I census the routes this season. I plan to
census the routes during the first weekends in June. If interested, please
contact me directly by email.
Please contact David Hanni at TWRA (david.hanni@xxxxxx) if you are
interested in adopting a BBS route elsewhere in the state. David is now the
state BBS coordinator.
Chuck Nicholson
Norris, TN
