Atlas update from the COA annual meeting

This weekend the COA held its annual meeting in Middlesex Community College, and it was great to see so much enthusiasm for the atlas project (to view slides from the talk I gave, click here).  A number of questions came up during the meeting and I will try to address the ones I heard repeatedly on the blog over the next week or two.  But, first, I wanted to pass on a few statistics about where the project stands. Continue reading “Atlas update from the COA annual meeting”

Woodcocks galore

Over the past two weeks, people have been reporting American woodcocks displaying at sites throughout the state. So, this weekend, just before dark, I made the 5-minute trek to the nearest overgrown field to my house to see if I could document them in atlas block 40F.  Sure enough, shortly after 7 pm, I heard a distant “bzzzt”, followed quickly by another, and another.  Over the next 20 minutes I also saw several display flights high up into the sky. Continue reading “Woodcocks galore”

Nesting hawks

One of the great things about living in Connecticut is the wealth of experience in the birding community.  The atlas team is taking advantage of that expertise not only to help us gather data, but also to provide insights to help volunteers become better atlasers.  Here, Connecticut Warbler editor and long-time birder, Greg Hanisek provides tips on finding evidence for breeding hawks in your block: Continue reading “Nesting hawks”

When is a pair of ducks really a pair of ducks?

Yesterday, a quick stop at a small pond in Mansfield turned up 2 gadwalls (a male and a female), 5 green-winged teals (3 males, 2 females), and a dozen mallards. The gadwalls were swimming around together, and one of the female teals was sitting close to one of the males. Given this observation, it would be tempting to report both species with breeding code P (pair) to the atlas project. Continue reading “When is a pair of ducks really a pair of ducks?”

Which eBird checklists should you share?

Spring is just around the corner, but as the recent snow has shown us, it’s not quite here yet. Some birds are starting to breed, but most are not. So, how do you know which birds to report to the atlas project? This question is a particular concern for people who are already entering their sightings into eBird and may be unsure when they should share a checklist with the ctbirdatlas account. Continue reading “Which eBird checklists should you share?”

Nesting ravens

Although it is too soon to begin surveying atlas blocks in earnest, a few species have begun to nest and atlas data have started to flow in.  For example, last weekend I saw a common raven fly across the Merritt Parkway in Orange (block 94F) with a stick in its beak – carrying nest material (atlas code CN).  I was a little surprised about the location, but I checked with local birder Frank Gallo who confirmed that there is pair that nests on a cell tower nearby. Continue reading “Nesting ravens”

Our History

Scientifically-designed bird atlases began in the UK in the 1960s. Dozens of bird atlases have been produced since, at scales ranging from counties, to countries, to continents.

For a list of projects in the US, click here. Most projects have focused on breeding birds, but some have tackled winter or migration patterns. Most simply document where each species occurs, but some also estimate abundance. And, while the focus has largely been on documenting distributions, most have also made some attempt to explain the distributions in relation to habitats, land use, and other factors. Increasingly, atlases are being repeated with a primary goal of determining whether and how bird distributions are changing. Continue reading “Our History”