The Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas is a comprehensive, statewide survey of the breeding distribution of Minnesota’s birds. Final products will include a book and on-line atlas, containing detailed distribution maps, data on species breeding status, and a summary of historical species information. Access to the information will be provided to the public as well as conservation agencies and organizations.

Years 3 and 4 of this six-year project will focus on data collection, review, and organization. Data will be collected at the Township level by volunteers recruited and trained by project staff and by paid, specially trained observers conducting limited, standardized point counts. Combined, these methods will provide the most complete picture to date of the overall distribution of all bird species as well as relative abundance estimates and detailed breeding habitat analysis for a majority of the breeding bird species of Minnesota. By the end of this work period we anticipate having some information from all Townships in the State including “hard-to-access” townships in the BWCA and the northern peatlands, and should have completed sampling in 75% of the Townships.

Data entry and access along with project updates and information will be handled through our website and the data management system we maintain with Cornell University. The appropriation will be split with $211,000 going to Audubon Minnesota to oversee project results 1 – 3 and $161,000 going to the Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota – Duluth to oversee project result 4.

Project Details