Birding Stories Atlassing NW BC by Floatplane  More.... Owls are different in a couple of ways from other birds in terms of the atlassing strategies needed to detect them. " read more for tips on finding BC owls. Dippers begin nest-building as early as late February on the South Coast and a few weeks later in the interior and north. Find out more. Late April and early May are the best times to survey for Long-billed Curlews. Search this site: Contact us BC Breeding Bird Atlas Bird Studies Canada 5421 Robertson Road Delta, BC V4K 3N2 1-877-592-8527 People often ask me what they can do for bird conservation. Join the atlas project! It is fun and the results are part of a foundation for conservation in British Columbia for years to come. - Rob Butler, Atlas Coordinator Endorsements The Canadian Intermountain Joint Venture (CIJV) Management Board recognises that the Atlas will provide a critical foundation to bird conservation in British Columbia, and unanimously endorsed the project at their Board Meeting on 20 November 2007. British Columbia is an important part of the Pacific Coast Joint Venture. The BC Breeding Bird Atlas will provide much needed infromation for conservation planning. The PCJV Management Board fully supports this effort." - Tom Dwyer, US Co-Chair of the Pacific Coast Joint Venture.

Welcome to the British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas! Birds can tell us important things about our environment. Their presence and abundance provide an early warning of the state of ecosystems and their eggs and tissues track trends of contaminants in the environment. Over 300 species of birds breed each year in British Columbia - more than any other province in Canada. Sixty-five species breed nowhere else in Canada and for several other species, British Columbia holds the majority of the world population. For these reasons, British Columbia plays a pivotal role in Canada's bird conservation efforts. Latest news from the atlas October 19 - Newsletter now online The autumn newsletter is now ready and available online. It's full of stories from the summer and tips and new tools available to atlassers. If you are still having a hard time getting data in, see the step-by-step instructions on "getting started." Some great new tools and tips are available for completing point counts and even a quiz to test some atlassing knowledge.    And please keep those records coming in. The second year was spectacular and we've amassed a great amount of data - we've quadrupled the number of point count records and have over 120,000 records! Thanks for your support this year! Check out the bird maps www.birdatlas.bc.ca/bcdata/maps.jsp to see where you could fill in a few species. August 4 - 2009 has been a great year The atlas records this year are rolling in every day. We have over 60,000 records so far this year already surpassing last years total. If last year is any example, we can expect thousands more records to be added in the next few months. There are breeding records for 282 species of which 232 are confirmed breeders. Point counters have been hard at it with 229 species recorded. Many squares in the southern end of the province have been completed and records are beginning to come in from more remote areas. If you have a field notebook with records of birds you saw or heard, we might be able use the data in the atlas. Drop us a note. Tell us about your stories and adventures birding the province. And thanks again to all the birders, funders and supporters. July 2  - Dendroica: an aid to learning Canadian bird songs now online "Dendroica: an aid to learning Canadian bird songs" is now online. This newly updated, web-based version was developed by the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada to help those participating in Canadian bird survey programs to enhance their bird identification skills. You can study different bird species using photographs and songs and you can limit the species you study by province, Bird Conservation Region, taxonomy or song type. There's also a quiz module to test yourself. A great new feature of the online version is that you can now create and manage your own bird lists. Still feel you are not ready to complete point counts? Polish-up your ID over the summer and winter and give it a try next season! As of now, all those participating in the BC Atlas should have received login and password information by email. If you have misplaced/ never received this information by email, head to the new Dendroica site at www.natureinstruct.org. Click on the "forgotten your password" link, then enter your email and your ID and password will be sent via email. If you still haven't received this information, please contact the Atlas office. As well, the creators are still looking for additional western recordings of sounds and photos of plumages, not currently represented. If you would like to contribute recordings or photos, please contact Charles Francis charles.francis@ec.gc.ca. June 4  - BC Bird Atlas on the road Join us if you can as we tour the Province. Christopher Di Corrado will tour Dease Lake and Telegraph Creek area June 8-14, and will join Regional Coordinator Pam Sinclair in Whitehorse to give an Atlas talk at the library June 14 at 7pm, and again at Northern Lights College in Atlin June 15. He will be atlassing the region until June 19. Dick Cannings is the guest speaker at the 27th annual Manning Park Bird Blitz (www.manningpark.com/summer.birding.html) on the evening of June 12, and will be on hand with Regional Coordinator Alan Burger to provide an Atlas flavour to the bird blitz which takes place June 13-14. Rob Butler will be atlassing the Bute Inlet area with Regional Coordinator Art Martell June 7-14, and in Port Alberni with Regional Coordinator Sandy McRuer and Pacific Rim through mid-June. He is the guest speaker at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society AGM at Mountain Equipment Coop on June 26. Rob will be traveling up the coast and to Haida Gwaii in late June. Pete Davidson will give a talk on the atlas on June 27 at the BCFO Conference at the Ski Hill Lodge in Clearwater. Point counting will take place in Wells Gray Park 25-6 June and 29 June-1 July with Dick Cannings and Regional Coordinator Rick Howie on hand to provide support. Non-members are welcome to join BCFO at the conference and the pre- and post-conference atlassing is open to all. Please contact Jude Grass at judegrass(at)shaw.ca if you are interested in joining the atlassing portion(s) of the event. Find out more in the News Archives. What is an Atlas Mapping birds is quickly becoming a world-wide phenomenon. It is fun to participate of course, but the results are an invaluable foundation of information for conserving birds and their ecosystems. Not long ago, atlases were books of maps but more recently atlases have on-line versions that are interactive. The BC Breeding Bird Atlas will be on-line and we hope to have a book too. To find out more, click here. Join the atlas! Anyone can participate in the Atlas. All you need is a pair of binoculars and some birdwatching experience or the desire to learn about birds. You need to be able to identify birds correctly but you do not need to be expert - all records are welcome. All data are entered on-line and the results will appear on this web site. After you register to the Atlas, you will receive the instructions and forms necessary. You should also get in touch with the regional coordinator in the area(s) that you are interested. The coordinator will recommend an area (10x10 km square) where you should plan to spend at least 20 hours over the 5 years of the project. You are also strongly encourage to report observations done outside of your square, anywhere else in B.C. A statement from our patron I have had a life long interest in birds. They have brought joy to an increasing number of people around the world but especially in Canada. In recent years I have noticed an alarming decline in many species I once considered a common part of my world. Bird populations are of course the proverbial canary in the coal mine. The health of their populations relates to the health of humans. The Breeding Bird Atlas puts scientific muscle behind vague impressions. It also stimulates public awareness and even that sense of joy I had in my youth. — Robert Bateman, Patron of the Atlas. Photo by Birgit Freybe Bateman.

Bird of the Month Steller's Jay, photo: Ian Routley BC's official provincial bird have the dubious honour of being one of the most frequently misspelled bird names. While their dazzling colour is "stellar," that’s not how you spell their name. They were named after Georg Steller, a naturalist who discovered them on an Alaskan island in 1741. BC holds 3 of North America's 6 subspecies, with the Haida Gwaii's carlottae subspecies being endemic to the islands and British Columbia. View species maps BC Atlas Partners BC Atlas Sponsors Major Atlas Sponsors     View all sponsors

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