Date: 4/6/26 9:06 am From: David Suddjian <dsuddjian...> Subject: [cobirds] Adopt a Colorado Breeding Bird Survey Route
I am posting an update and another plea for skilled birders to adopt a
route for the *North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS)*. The BBS is a
long-term, large-scale, international avian monitoring program initiated in
1966 to track the status and trends of North American bird populations. Each
year from late May to early July skilled birders collect bird population
data along roadside survey routes. Each survey route is 24.5 miles long
with stops situated 0.5-mile apart. At each stop, a 3-minute point count is
conducted and every bird seen or heard within a 0.25-mile radius or heard
is recorded. Routes are surveyed just once each season, following the same
roads and making the same stops each year. Over 4100 survey routes in the
continental U.S. and Canada provide an index of population abundance that
is used to estimate population trends and relative abundances at various
geographic scales. See what it is all about here in this video: Ups and
Downs in Colorado <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUSDQZrq-eM>
*Colorado currently has 15 “vacant” routes that need skilled volunteer
observers* who can commit to adopting a route for at least three years.
(See list of routes below). Help is especially needed for routes on the
eastern prairie and in southwestern Colorado. Declining grassland bird
numbers are one of the greatest concerns, so it would be especially great
to increase BBS coverage of Colorado's prairie routes.
*Requirements for participation* are: (1) access to transportation to
complete a survey, (2) good hearing and eyesight, and (3) the ability to
identify the breeding birds in the area by sight and sound. The data is
collected by just the assigned observer, but a companion could assist with
driving or recording the data in the field. Knowledge of bird songs and
calls is extremely important, because most birds counted on the surveys are
detected by sound. A BBS survey requires about five hours to complete, plus
travel to and from the route location.
*Contact me directly at <dsuddjian...> <dsuddjian...>if you are
interested in a route **or have questions. *Route requests made via the BBS
webpage may not reach me. Thanks!
Route # Route Name County Location
17-20 Boyero Lincoln
17-44 Bethune Kit Carson
17-52 Dolores Riv Dolores
17-55 Alamosa Conejos, Alamosa
17-59 Pleasant View Dolores
17-126 Cone Mtn Las Animas
17-153 Rio Grand Res Mineral, Hinsdale
17-207 Amherst Phillips, Sedgwick
17-214 Kirk Kit Carson
17-220 Haswell Bent, Kiowa
17-314 Burlington Kit Carson, Yuma
17-321 Sheridan Lake Kiowa, Prowers
17-322 Mcphee Res Dolores, Montezuma
17-324 South Fork Rio Grande
17-373 Lizard Head Pass San Miguel, Dolores
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