Results and Trends
1988-2004 Breeding Bird Trends Analysis

In 1998, the Bird Conservation Network implemented a standardized protocol for monitoring breeding birds in the Chicago Wilderness region - an area incorporating about a dozen counties centered around the City of Chicago.  Working with volunteer monitors, local management agencies, and later national organizations, the BCN Census has evolved immensely since that time, and the database has also been mitigated and relocated to a special dedicated section of the Cornell eBird website.

Eight years of faithful monitoring by BCN Census volunteers plus many additional years of data gathered in cooperation with forest preserve districts and local land managers has resulted in a collective database of over 100,000 records.  Our primary aim has always been to provide data for land managers, but now that we have amassed a considerable amount of data, we are also able to investigate the long term status of these species.  This site contains our first attempt at such an analysis.  What we found is that we have enough data to show trends for a number of important birds in our region, and not enough for others. With only eight years of point count data and little information about habitat coverage, this analysis has a number of limitations and potential sources of error that need to be taken into account.  Details about these limitations can be read about on the Methods page.  The analysis is broken down into two categories: Point Count Data Trends for 1996-2004 that only look at standardized BCN Census point counts and Combined Data Trends for 1988-2004 that look at all data that has been incorporated into the BCN eBird database: point counts, transects, timed and casual observations.

A huge thanks goes out to the scores of volunteer monitors who have contributed countless hours in the field!

If you aren't already a monitor for the BCN Census, we hope that you will join us! 
Your contributions can help us identify important Habitat, improve current management practices, monitor the spread of West Nile Virus, set regional priorities through Chicago Wilderness, and work with land managers to protect areas where birds are breeding.

And remember, even if you don't have time to monitor a site on a regular basis, we encourage you to enter your casual bird sightings on the BCN eBird website.
 

Introduction - A brief history of the BCN Census and an overview of this project.

Analysis Methods - Technical details regarding our monitoring and analysis methods.

OTHER BCN CENSUS AND AUDUBON PROJECTS:
Distribution of Grassland & Shrubland Birds  |  Grassland Bird Blitz  |  West Nile Virus Survey
Migrant Bird Habitat Study  |  Important Bird Areas

ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Data Analysis Advisors:
Fred Ramsey, Doug Stotz, Jeff Brawn, Christopher Wood, Brian Sullivan, Steve Kelling, Scott Meister. 
Chicago Wilderness Advisors: Chris Mulvaney, Dan Gooch, Geoffrey Levin

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Eric Secker  &  Jerry Kumery

BIBLIOGRAPHY

QUICK LINKS

• Home Page

• Introduction

• Analysis Methods

• View the Results!

• Disclaimer

• Contact Us

• Links

Become a Monitor!

Project Affiliates and Sponsors:

Copyright © 2005 Audubon - Chicago Region & Bird Conservation Network