Division of Fish & Wildlife

For the worthy environmental conservation mission that would grow into the second Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas, here’s how an idea was hatched:

Two subcommittees worked diligently feathering the nest to launch it: The Breeding Bird Atlas Technical Committee dealt with methodology, protocol, data, and databasing, while the bird atlas’s logistical committee handled and continues to work with issues of assembling volunteers, developing an atlas steering committee, improving conservation awareness through the atlas, and publicly promoting the atlas project.

Objectives for the Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas:

Ø       To determine the current distribution of all bird species breeding within Delaware, as well as within specially designated areas.

Ø       To assess changes relative to the first Delaware breeding bird atlas and establish protocols to allow for better comparisons with future atlases.

Ø       To generate improved information on the status, distribution, abundance, and habitat associations of Species of Special Interest within Delaware.

Ø       To be a forum for education and conservation awareness in Delaware.

Photo by Larry Graff

A downy woodpecker finds nourishment in Delaware woodlands

Outcomes anticipated from the Delaware Breeding Bird Atlas:

Ø       Species-specific summaries of the breeding habits of Delaware’s birds.

Ø       Detailed distribution maps for all bird species breeding in Delaware.

Ø       Analysis of changes since the first atlas.

Ø       General and species-specific conservation recommendations.

Ø Permanent records of the data collected that are electronically and conventionally published and available to all interested parties

Delaware Audubon Society

Delaware Nature Society

Delmarva Ornithological Society

US Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Delaware Museum of Natural History