Guide available!

The participant’s “Guide for Atllasser’s” is now available off the atlas website (www.birdatlas.mb.ca) , either from the home page or through Resources >> Atlasser Material >> Guide and Data Forms. This has a few minor tweaks from the one we handed out at FortWhyte (which we had run out of by the end of Saturday) but if you have a copy of that one you can still use it (the content hasn’t changed – just, with your input, we made a few minor editing changes)

The Data forms are also available in the same place. The breeding evidence forms print best on legal paper (14”x8.5”) so if you have difficulty printing on this paper type from home just let us know and we can do it for you. You could of course print these on 11 x 8.5 ( al little squashed but legible) for use in the field and then copy them over to a master copy kept at home and with everything printed very neatly. I recommend people keep one master copy per square they are atlassing in and then use this/these master copy/copies for data entry later. The forms we gave out at FortWhyte, which the watermark “DRAFT” plastered across them, can be used as rough field sheets but please don’t use them as master copies if you are going to send us in datasheets to be scanned.

The Guide For Point Counters will be up shortly. The point count forms are already available and print on letter-sized paper (11”x8.5”). We will soon have the remaining items in the “Atlasser’s Kit” such as the square maps and summary square sheets ready too for download. If you checked the “Yes, please send me the atlasser’s kit” when you registered we will have those in the mail within a week or two.

Casual forms and rare/colonial species forms and nest record cards are all available on the website too. Would be awesome to start the atlas with a rare bird!!

White-breasted Nuthatch

Nella Schmidt submitted the following photo:

Nella writes:

April 7.... Nest-building Whitebreasted Nuthatches...The male (I'm assuming) had some nesting material in his beak and as as he ascended, descended and circled the trunk, he shook his head continuously back and forth. The female ( presumed) watched him. Eventually he placed the material which I couldn't identify into the cavity. On my way home, when I stopped by shortly, the male had a white fluffy seed head in his beak, and again engaged in the same head movements while the female was occupied with arranging the nesting material in the cavity.

House Finch Behavior

Garry Budyk has just sent these interesting behavioral notes:

March 3rd: At home in East Kildonan , I observed a male House Finch doing a spirited courtship dance around a female , with the female following his movements carefully and responding by lowering her head and opening her mouth wide . No food was exchanged but the interaction went on for several minutes . It seems much too soon for a serious mating attempt , but it may show how early House Finches begin their pair bonding and courtship rituals .

March 7th: I observed a male House Finch feeding the female

Atlas Launch - April 9 - 11 Schedule

Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas - Launch and Free Public Workshop:

Location:

FortWhyte Alive, Winnipeg

Dates and Times:

Friday 9th April 7pm – 9pm
Saturday 10th Apri1 10am – 4pm
Sunday 11th April 10am – 4pm

SCHEDULE:
Friday April 9th 7pm – 9pm
Reception with the Minister of Conservation, Silent Auction and "meet the owl" with Nemo, Pepper and their favourite perch, Jim Duncan.

Saturday April 10th 10am - 4pm
All day registration available. View our maps and maybe select an atlas square or meet your regional coordinator

10:00am: Atlassing Presentation: Learn about breeding bird atlases –their history and their purpose and how you can get involved

11:00am: Enjoy the photography and stories of naturalist, photographer and author Bob Taylor as he showcases beautiful Manitoba

2:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to atlas for birds – bring your binoculars and a pencil and clipboard!

3:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to use hand-held GPS units – useful for recording the location of birds

Sunday April 11th 10am - 4pm

All day registration available. View our maps and maybe select an atlas square or meet your regional coordinator

10:30am: Atlassing Presentation: Learn about breeding bird atlases –their history and their purpose and how you can get involved

2:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to atlas for birds – bring your binoculars and a pencil and clipboard!

3:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to use hand-held GPS units – useful for recording the location of birds

Registration will be available the whole weekend! Workshops will be held in small groups so you can see first hand how to “atlas” for birds. Staff and experienced volunteers will be on hand to explain the project and answer questions. Drop in whenever you can!

Screech-owl pair bonding

In the last few days some Winnipeg Eastern Screech-Owls have been engaged in pair bonding including an observation of a pair copulating on March 1st (probable breeding). With the warmer temperatures, it is worth listening for owls already! Can you tell which is the male and which is the female in the pair of Eastern Screech-Owls in the photo below by atlas coordinator Christian Artuso?

Part of a team

The beauty of a breeding bird atlas is that ANYONE can participate and EVERYONE can build their skill set. Whether you are simply documenting a robin nesting under your eaves trough or a hawk nest you spotted on the road, or submitting a photograph of a species you can’t identify, or signing up to cover a grid square (20 hour commitment) or maybe conducting point counts or going wilderness camping with a supplied recording device, we need YOU!

The Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas has 14 administrative regions. You can view a map of the regions below or go to: http://www.birdatlas.mb.ca/mbdata/regions.jsp?lang=en for a larger version and a list regional coordinators whom you can contact for more information or how, when and where to atlas and to sign up for a square.

And, if you are not from Manitoba, we would be delighted to invite you to come here to participate in this conservation initiative and to enjoy a truly remarkable wilderness experience. Anyone can participate as an individual or as part of a team. In fact, we want to get everyone involved as part of the largest team of all – people who care about the environment and who are actively engaged in protecting their environment in all sorts of ways. If looking for birds in prairie grasslands or experience the enormity and richness of the remote boreal forest appeals to you, please get in touch and we will provide logistical support and information. You may even be able to attend some of our training workshops or special events to learn more about “atlassing” for birds.

If you cannot come to Manitoba, there are currently four Breeding Bird Atlas projects ongoing in Canada. In addition to the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas, you can look at:

British Columbia http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/english/index.jsp
Maritime Provinces http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/index.html
Québec http://www.atlas-oiseaux.qc.ca/index_fr.jsp

Declines in bird populations

A short while ago, the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas Coordinator, Christian Artuso, was asked to write an article on the decline of songbirds for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Here is his assessment of the situation: http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/fast-facts-manitobas-silent-spring
You can also download a pdf of that same article by clicking on the above link, scrolling down to the bottom and then clicking under where it says “Download Related Material”

Hope you enjoy this article!
Canada Warbler - Threatened, COSEWIC 2008. Photo by Christian Artuso.