[cobirds] BBS routes

            Birding magazine interviewed Chan Robbins (founder of the Breeding Bird Survey) last year. He said, "The BBS shows with greater and greater precision the rates of change in continental bird populations and the geographic areas where the greatest changes are taking place. Initially, my greatest concerns were for species that were disappearing from my long-term routes . . . . but then I began to realize that counts of the most common species were dropping sharply at stops where no change in habitat could be detected; at stops where I used to count eight or nine Red-eyed Vireos, my counts declined to just two or three. . ."

            The BBS has "a major role in guiding policy and science in the U.S. and elsewhere." -- Ken Rosenberg, Cornell Lab.

 

            BBS packets arrived this week. We still have 20 Colorado routes without observers.

            Many of you Cobirders who who don't have routes have the requisite skills (and haven't lost your hearing*). In fact, only 4 of Colorado's top 20 contributors to eBird have signed up for the BBS.
[* I now have a kinglet/creeper hearing aid to use on BBS routes and other bird watching events.]

            A BBS route covers 24.5 miles. You record all the birds they hear and see during a 3-minute stop, then drive a half-mile to the next stop. You run the route only once, during the peak of the songbird singing season, from May 25 on the plains to July 15 in the high country; it takes 3-4 hours. The worst part -- getting up in order to start the route at 5 a.m. Your ability to identify species by sound is crucial--I estimate that I record 75-85% of the birds on my routes by sound, not sight.

            You make a commitment of three years, because the BBS doesn't use data unless the same person runs the route for at least 3 years.

            Let me know if you might succumb to this attempt at persuasion and take a route. (Of course you don't have to rank as a top eBirder to run one.)

            The following list of open routes is organized geographically (sort of). I can send more detailed descriptions to you if you'd like to consider one but want more information.

                     

Key to route descriptions:

Number and name                  County                        Page in DeLorme Atlas

 

            Plains

17021 Lamar               Prowers, Kiowa          pp 99 & 103

17321 Sheridan Lake  Prowers, Kiowa          p 103

17419 Doyle Bridge 2      Pueblo                   p 73 & 98

17049 Edison              El Paso                        p 98

 

            Central Mountains

17316 Powderhorn      Gunnison, Hinsdale    pp 66-67

17253 Lake City         Hinsdale                      p 77

17218 Wet Mtns.        Fremont, Custer          p 72

 

            San Luis Valley

17018 Moffat              Saguache                     p70

17224 Fox Creek        Conejos                       p. 91-90          

17324 South Fork       Rio Grande                 p 79-89

 

            Southwest

17422 Cortez              Montezuma                 pp 75, 85

17124 Blackhead Peak  Archuleta     p 88

 

            Grand Junction area

17216 Paonia              Delta   p 57

 

            Northwest 

17001 Maybell           Moffat             pp 14, 24

17002 Great Divide   Moffat             pp 14 & 15

            [Starts about 20 miles N of Craig]

17032 Wilson Creek  Rio Blanco, Moffat     p 24

17201 Browns Park   Moffat             p 12

17301 Dinosaur         Moffat             p 22

17302 Lay                  Moffat             p 24 & 14

17351 Angora            Rio Blanco      p 22-23 [Near Rangely]

 

 

 

Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO

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