Skip to main content
  1. ScienceBase Catalog
  2. Eastern Ecological Science Center
  3. Species Population Dynamics & Surveillance
  4. North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset
  5. Historic Data Releases - North American Breeding Bird Survey
  6. 2018 Release - North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset (1966-2017)

2018 Release - North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset (1966-2017)

Dates

Release Date
2018-04-25
Last Update
2018-04-25
End Date
2017
Start Date
1966
Publication Date

Citation

Pardieck, K.L., Ziolkowski Jr., D.J., Lutmerding, M., and Hudson, M-A.R., 2018, North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset 1966 - 2017 (ver. 2017.0): U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, https://doi.org/10.5066/F76972V8.

Summary

This is an antiquated version of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) dataset that has been superseded by a more recent release. Unless visitors have a specific need for these archived data, they should return to the Main BBS Dataset Page and choose the most recent data release, as that one will include all BBS data released to date. The 1966-2017 North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) dataset contains avian point count data for more than 700 North American bird taxa (species, races, and unidentified species groupings). These data are collected annually during the breeding season, primarily in June, along thousands of randomly established roadside survey routes in the United States and Canada. Routes are roughly 24.5 miles [...]

Contacts

Point of Contact :
Keith L Pardieck, David Ziolkowski
Originator :
Keith L Pardieck, David Ziolkowski, Michael Lutmerding, Marie-Anne R. Hudson
Metadata Contact :
Keith Pardieck
Publisher :
U.S. Geological Survey
USGS Mission Area :
Ecosystems
SDC Data Owner :
Eastern Ecological Science Center
Distributor :
U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase

Attached Files

Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.

MetaData-NABBS_Dataset_1966-2017_v2017_0.xml
“Metadata”
Original FGDC Metadata
View 		29.08 KB application/fgdc+xml
50-StopData.zip
“Avian Count Data by Individual Stops (1-50)” 		72.19 MB application/zip
BBSStrata.txt
“BBS Strata Lookup” 		10.48 KB text/plain
BCR.txt
“Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs) Lookup” 		13.21 KB text/plain
MigrantNonBreeder.zip
“The Migrant,Vagrant, Nonbreeder data” 		185.91 KB application/zip
NABBS_DataFieldDefinitions_1996-2017.pdf
“Definition of the fields (columns) in each data file” 		359.36 KB application/pdf
pkzipc.exe
“An executable file to extract the csv files from the zip folders” 		252 KB application/x-msdownload
RegionCodes.txt
“Region Codes Lookup” 		5.47 KB text/plain
RouteInf.txt
“Description of the Route file” 		1.23 KB text/plain
routes.zip
“List of Routes, Latitude/Longitude, Stratum, and active /inactive status” 		103.03 KB application/zip
RunProtocolID.txt
“Run Protocol Lookup” 		3.03 KB text/plain
RunType.pdf
“Description of the RunType column” 		640.12 KB application/pdf
SpeciesList.txt
“Species Lookup” 		272.77 KB text/plain
States.zip
“Avian count data 1966-2016 summarized at 10- stop and 50-stop intervals” 		52.84 MB application/zip
Summary.txt
“Description of the Ten-Stop Summary files” 		1.61 KB text/plain
VehicleData.zip
“Vehicle count and excessive noise data in 10-stop summary format” 		2.85 MB application/zip
Weather.zip
“Sample history of routes; date sampled, observer, weather conditions, time” 		2.25 MB application/zip
weathercodes.txt
“Weather Lookup” 		4.65 KB text/plain
WeatherInf.txt
“Description of the Weather file” 		3.34 KB text/plain
whatsnew.txt
“Changes and additions made in this version of the data” 		54.21 KB text/plain
README.txt
“A list of files and a summary of their contents” 		13.75 KB text/plain

Purpose

The North American Breeding Bird Survey provides scientifically credible measures of the status and trends of North American bird populations, at continental and regional scales, to inform biologically sound conservation and management actions. Key features of the BBS that distinguish it from most other avian monitoring programs are its scientifically rigorous yet straight-forward sampling protocol, the breadth of its geographical coverage, and its temporal longevity. It is unique in providing annual information on population abundance and trends across most of the breeding ranges for hundreds of species simultaneously. Because population change may differ among regions, no other survey is as useful as the BBS for documenting the population status of relatively common and widespread species at a near continental scale. The primary functions of the BBS data are to measure avian population change to help identify species priorities for conservation, and to provide annual avian count data for model-based conservation planning. Yet these data have many potential uses, and researchers continue to find new applications of these data each year to address emerging research and management objectives. Today the BBS data set provides the foundation for non-game landbird conservation in North America. Each year long-term population trends are calculated for more than 400 species recorded on BBS routes. These trends inform researchers and wildlife managers of significant changes in bird population levels and are utilized, along with other indicators, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, state wildlife agencies, and Partners in Flight to establish national and regional avian conservation priorities.

Communities

  • Eastern Ecological Science Center
  • USGS Data Release Products

Associated Items

Tags

Provenance

Data source
Input directly

Additional Information

Identifiers

Type Scheme Key
DOI https://www.sciencebase.gov/vocab/category/item/identifier doi:10.5066/F76972V8

Item Actions

View Item as ...

JSON ATOM ISO XML

Save Item as ...

JSON FGDC MODS XML ISO XML

View Item...

Metrics