Statewide Bird Survey

It’s spring in Door County, and birds are returning from their southern wintering grounds. Local birdwatchers are now fanning out across the county to document hundreds of bird species for the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II. The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO), the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory, and the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative has come together to launch this five-year, statewide survey of Wisconsin’s 225-plus species of breeding birds.

According to Nick Anich, project coordinator from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, “This project will likely become one of the largest citizen science projects ever in Wisconsin. Since last fall we’ve been recruiting hundreds of volunteers, and by the time the project is over we’ll have recruited thousands more to survey every part of Wisconsin and document what birds are breeding where, and how populations have changed in recent decades.”

In Door County, surveyors are signing up to survey specific “blocks” of land, most of which were surveyed in the first atlas two decades ago. Surveyors will visit repeatedly to get a complete picture of birds nesting there over the course of the five-year atlas project. Because volunteers need to survey different habitat types on both public and private lands, some property owners may be contacted by local birdwatchers seeking permission to access their land.

Though the project is off to a fast start, more volunteers are needed to contribute observations. Those wanting to learn more or sign up should visit wsobirds.org/atlas and attend training workshops. Door County atlas county coordinator, Paul Regnier, planned two workshops to help inform and train people interested in volunteering: April 18, 1 pm, Sturgeon Bay Library; and April 25, 1 pm, Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Library. For more information email Regnier at [email protected].