Here's our annual invitation to qualified observers to participate in the Breeding Bird Survey "BBS." Participants must have the skills to identify the likely species on their routes by sight and by sound.
Since 1966 (1968 in Colorado and the West) the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, originally US Fish & Wildlife Service, now the Biological Research Division of the US Geological Survey, has sponsored the Breeding Bird Survey program to monitor birds across the US (and Canada, with the Canadian Wildlife Service). Last year volunteers ran almost 3000 routes in the US & Canada.
Scientists use BBS results to derive population trends for the species that the system samples well.
Colorado has 132 designated BBS routes, and we consistently run more routes than all other states in the U.S. except Texas and California.
A BBS route covers 24.5 miles. Observers 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, once only, during the peak of the songbird singing season, from May 25 on the plains to July 15 in the high country. The ability to identify species by sound is crucial--I record 75-85% of the birds on my routes by sound, not sight.
The observer should have the ability to identify, by sound and sight, most of the species likely to occur along that route. On my routes, I identify over 75% of the birds by sound, without ever seeing them. We seek a commitment of three years, because the BBS prefers route data run by the same person for at least 3 years.
Let me know if you would like one or more. The following list is organized geographically (sort of). I hope that we can fill most of them with qualified observers who have good ears.
The following lists the available routes; I can send more detailed descriptions to you if you'd like to consider one but want more information. I know it's old –fashioned, but I use the DeLorme (printed on paper) Atlas to locate routes.
Hugh Kingery
Key to route descriptions:
Number and name County Page in DeLorme Atlas
East Central
17043 Gordon Creek Washington p 97
Start 4 miles E and 8 miles S of Anton; north 9 miles on CR HH; E 2 miles on CR 12; N 14 miles on CR KK to end.
17313 Flagler Washington, Kit Carson, & Lincoln p 97
Starts 15 miles SE of Anton at Wash CR 4; Southon CR on CR NN and KC Rd 7, 6, & 5 through Flagler to end.
Southeast
17028 Two Buttes Prowers & Baca p 103
Start at intersection of CR 26 & CR D; east on CR D 9 miles; S on Colo 89 to end.
17328 Pritchett Baca p 101
Start 12 miles S of Pritchett on CR 12; go E one mile, then N on Roads 13 and 12 to end.
17327 Timpas Otero p 100
Starts 15 miles west of LaJunta. From Colo. 10, go south on GR 14 for 9 miles, east on GR 11 5.5 miles to Timpas, south 2 miles, east one mile, then south on GR 18 to end.
17220 Haswell Bent, Kiowa p 99
Start 6 miles N of Las Animas; N 7 miles on CR 10; swing around SE edge of Adobe Cr Res. SWA, then N 4 miles on Road 17; E on Road E 2 miles; N 5 miles on Road 19, E 1 mile on Road K, then N on Road 20 to end.
17321 Sheridan Lake Prowers, Kiowa p 103
Start on Prowers Co. Rd 30 at Rd VV; north on VV to Kiowa CR W; then east on W to end.
South Central
17056 Trinchera Las Animas p. 102, 93
Start in Trinchera; westerly on CR 2.2 and 22.0 & 24.6 roads to end.
17226 Cokedale Las Animas p 93
Starts 20 miles west of Trinidad, a mile south of Trinidad Lake; Go westerly on CF 53.1 and 18.3; northwesterly on CR 53.5 through Spanish Peaks WA and 41.1; then northeasterly on CF 41.7 & 42; then NWly on CR 46 to end.
17375 Gardner Huerfano P 82
Start at intersection of FR 400 & 404 (20+ miles west of Beulah and 10 miles SW of Bishops Castle); south on FR 400 to Gardner, west on CR 550 to Malachite; S on CR 572 to end.
17368 Westcliffe Custer, Fremont p. 71
Starts 2 miles west and a mile north of Westcliffe; east ½ mile on CR 170; north on CR 215 (Copper Gulch Road) to Fremont CR 29; east a quarter mile to CR 27A + CR 28 to CR 3 and end.
San Luis Valley and Southwest
17055 Alamosa Conejos, Alamosa p 91-90
Starts 12 miles E of Manassa on CO 142; North on CR 28to CR Z; west on CR Z to CR 24; N on CR 24 (Alamosa CR S-112 to end.
17422 Cortez Montezuma pp 75, 85
Start 6 miles N of Dolores on Colo. 526; south on 526 to Colo 104; South on 104 & CR 30 & 29 to US 160; skip 2 miles, then south on CR 27, west on CR H, south on CR 23 to end.
Central and North Mountains
17033 Walden Jackson p17
Starts about 15 miles NW of Walden: south on CR7 past Lake John turnoff, on CR 5 past Delaney Buttes SWA; east on CR 24 to end.
17354 Gold Hill Boulder p 29
2-3 miles west of Boulder on Colo 119: Go NW on Fourmile Canyon Road and Gold Hill Road to BC Rd 95; through Ward and CRs 100, 93, and 96 to End.
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