Egg-stra! Egg-stra! Read all about it!
The
3rd Pennsylvania Bird Atlas
Is Underway 
Birders of all ages and skill sets are soaring across Pennsylvania on a 5-year journey to document the breeding and wintering status of bird species across the Commonwealth.
The Pennsylvania Bird Atlas is a 5-year project to better understand the distribution, abundance, long-term changes, and seasonal patterns of birds breeding in a specific region. Atlases are conducted with the help of numerous volunteers, cover a wide geographic area, and occur once every 20 years. The first Pennsylvania Bird Atlas dates to the mid-late 1980s, and the second was completed in 2009.
Did you know Pennsylvania is home to
285 species of birds, including 190 species that nest here and 23 threatened or endangered species? The Atlas will provide a snapshot of the population status and distribution of these birds. It’s open to all volunteer birders, regardless of skill level, and uses eBird, an online database from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, to record observations.
The
3rd Pennsylvania Bird Atlas is unique in that it will be the first time a Pennsylvania Bird Atlas will incorporate winter surveys in addition to breeding season surveys, which will help refine the understanding of the year-round distribution and relative abundance of Pennsylvania's bird populations. Breeding birds can be documented year-round, but most surveys occur from April to August. Wintering birds will be surveyed from February to December. No other bird surveys are as comprehensive, and for that reason, the results are critical to the establishment of conservation priorities for Pennsylvania birds!
The 3rd PA Bird Atlas is made possible through partnership between the Pennsylvania Game Commission,
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology, and thousands of dedicated bird enthusiasts across the state. Amber Wiewel serves as the coordinator for the 3rd Atlas and works closely with an Atlas steering committee.
So you know what the Atlas is, why it’s done, when it happens, and who can participate, but you might be wondering how you can contribute. Good news — it’s simple! The first step is to go birding. Whether you’re on a hike, at a neighborhood park, or just hanging out in your backyard, pay attention to birds and their behaviors. Then, submit your observations in eBird! The Pennsylvania Bird Atlas has a portal in eBird which has a ton of information including a quick start guide, a volunteer handbook, atlas block maps, news releases, and more. Your contributions are critical to learning more about the status of all birds, common and rare, in Pennsylvania. So, grab those binoculars, get out there, and get your bird on!
To get started, visit eBird.
Jordan Sanford
Jordan Sanford is a Wildlife Outreach Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. She enjoys sharing her passion of wildlife and wildlife conservation with others. In her free time, she enjoys reading, going to concerts, and being outside.