BBA Volunteer Page

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas

1997-2001

Volunteer Opportunities

NOTE: Field work is now completed.

Thank you to the many who have helped with this effort!

Project objective and methods

What you would do as a volunteer

Online sign-up form and clickable map of block locations

Project objectives and methods

The Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas Project (1997-2001) is an effort to gather data on the breeding distributions of birds in our state. The results will be an atlas, a collection of maps, showing where each bird has been found breeding. We expect to publish the survey results in book format following the five years of field work. Over 40 states have either started or completed similar atlas projects. Public or university libraries may have copies of some of the published atlases from other states should you wish to see them. All states bordering Oklahoma have completed some level of atlasing. The information gained from such projects provides a systematically gathered and repeatable "snapshot" of breeding bird distribution within a five-year time frame. In the short-term, the information that is gathered will provide a more up-to-date and detailed picture of the breeding distribution of birds in Oklahoma than is now available. In the long-term, the atlas will provide a benchmark of breeding bird distribution in the late 20th century that can be compared to results of a repeated atlas project in 20 or 30 years. The value of such information for bird conservation will be substantial, and this project offers you a chance to contribute in a very meaningful way.

The Breeding Bird Atlas is being organized and administered by the George M. Sutton Avian Research Center (GMSARC) and the Oklahoma Biological Survey (OBS) at the University of Oklahoma, of which the Sutton Center is an affiliate.

The data for the Breeding Bird Atlas are not counts of individual birds (as they are with the Christmas Bird Counts or Breeding Bird Surveys), but are instead the presence or absence of the species within the defined areas. The result will be a list of birds for one-sixth of every other quad (a unit of area which is described below), along with a code to show whether the species was possibly, probably, or confirmed breeding in the block.

To gather data for the atlas, we are using the grid of 7½ minute quads established by the U. S. Geological Survey. Each of these quads is 7½ x7½ minutes of latitude and longitude, or approximately 7 x 8 miles, about one-third the area of a Christmas Bird Count circle. The grid covers the entire state, with about 1200 quads covering Oklahoma. However, the atlas project will be sampling only one-sixth of every-other quad. This unit of land is referred to as an atlas block, and is about 3.5 x 3 miles in size. Nearly 600 such blocks will need to be surveyed in the five years of atlas field work. We have selected this sampling scheme because of Oklahoma's relatively large land area and small population compared to many of the eastern states which have surveyed more intensively.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas data are the property of the agencies cooperating to produce the atlas. The information will be published in atlas format and is intended for use by the general public and for scientific purposes, wildlife management, and local, state, federal, and business planning. Persons, agencies, or organizations wishing to obtain data from the atlas may submit a request to the coordinating organizations.

What you would do as a volunteer

Volunteers sign up to survey one or more of our selected blocks of land throughout Oklahoma during a season (February through August 15). Not every inch of the 10+ square miles in each block needs to be surveyed. Rather, all of the major habitat types in each block should be visited in order to record as many species as possible which are nesting within the block. At least two visits to each block and 10 or more hours of survey time are required during the season. Complete instructions and forms are provided to volunteers. Participants should be able to recognize most species occurring in their block and be able to look up any that they are not familiar with.

Feel free to contact us for more information.

Online sign-up form and clickable map of block locations

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