Todd Bird Club Members Take a Leadership Role in the Third Pennsylvania Bird Atlas (PAB3)
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Todd Bird Club Members take a Leadership Role in the Third Pennsylvania Bird Atlas (PAB3)
Pennsylvania is starting its 3rd Bird Atlas in 2024. The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) is the primary funder for the Pennsylvania Bird Atlas and institutional support is provided by Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. The previous two projects were breeding bird atlases, but this Third is a bird atlas as winter effort will be included in this project starting in the winter of 2024-25. An Advisory Group has guided the planning for this Third Atlas. Among the leaders of the Group are Sean Murphy (Ornithologist at the PGC), Andy Wilson (Ornithologist at Gettysburg College), Laurie Goodrich (Ornithologist at Hawk Mountain) and Dan Brauning (Retired Ornithologist at the PGC and current President of the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology). Locally the Advisory Group includes Bob Mulvihill (Ornithologist at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh and the Atlas Coordinator for the 2nd Atlas) and Annie Lindsay (Banding Manager at the Powdermill Nature Reserve). The Atlas Coordinator is Amber Wiewel. Our Regional Coordinator is Tom Kuehl, a Todd Bird Club member.Coverage for the Third Atlas will be managed at the county level. Club members are among the group of birders taking leadership roles as County Coordinators - Tom and Janet Kuehl (Westmoreland), Alex Busato (Fayette), Jim Kellam (Armstrong) and Margaret and Roger Higbee (Indiana). Tom and Janet are also serving as the Southwest Region Coordinators, a 12-county region that is among the eight regions in the state.
This PAB3 follows the First Atlas conducted in the 1980s and the Second Atlas in the early 2000s. This Atlas will be a five-year long community service project to document the birds breeding and, for the first time, the birds wintering in Pennsylvania. The PGC has initiated this PBA3 to update the information they need to prioritize conservation and to protect the birds of Pennsylvania. A monumental contribution from volunteers is required to complete the targeted effort to do 20-plus hours in all the 4,937 roughly 9 square mile blocks in the state.
Anybody can participate and anyone can bird anywhere! There is no sign-up needed - just enter bird observations in eBird, which can be accessed at the website (ebird.org/atlaspa) or by using the eBird smart phone app and selecting the Pennsylvania Bird Atlas portal. For those already submitting checklists on eBird, the good news is that you are already using the process for reporting birds for the Atlas, and the PA Bird Atlas Portal submissions will be included in your personal eBird data.
While it is now 2024, the Atlas website is not yet fully operational. Here is the December 30, 2023, update email from Amber Wiewel to the Regional and County Coordinators:
“Hi all,-
I wanted to give an update before the Atlas launches.
We still have some work to do to make information and resources available to birders, but the good news is that a lot of this stuff is ready to go - and so many of you have already stepped forward to field questions on social media or to reach out to local birders and birding groups! I'm sure many of you have noticed that the website (ebird.org/atlaspa) still lacks content. While we’re waiting for that to be sorted out, a few files are available in the "PA Bird Atlas Discussion Group" (go to the group and click on the Files tab under the banner). Feel free to pass these along to any birders who don't use Facebook. I’ve also attached the handbook and breeding guidelines chart in this email in case any of you haven’t accessed them yet. Hopefully this all, and much more, will be up on the website very soon!
I don’t have specific updates on the Block Tool (where we'll go for downloadable block maps and to sign up as principal atlaser for blocks), but good progress is being made on it, and I’m excited about some nice features it will have. The maps and block species lists portion of this tool should be available very soon; however, the sign-up portion is taking a little longer to finish so it will likely be a few weeks yet before that goes live. The important thing is to remind people that we can all be patient while waiting to sign up for blocks and channel our excitement into looking for Great Horned Owls, Rock Pigeons, and Bald Eagles.
Once the block sign-up does go live, County Coordinators (or Regional Coordinators in open counties) will begin receiving the sign-up requests via email. I haven’t seen exactly what this process will look like but once I get a preview I’ll send out instructions so you all know what to expect. It is supposed to be straightforward - click a link in the email and then click a button to accept or decline a block request. I expect many of you will see a flurry of sign-ups in the first few days and then it will be much more sporadic.
I’m sure we'll have some kinks to work out in these first few days and weeks, but we fortunately have plenty of time for that before the real breeding season is underway. Thank you all for your understanding as you've waited for more details on so many aspects of this project. I know the more work we put into the block sign-up and all the resources being developed, the smoother the Atlas will go! Please reach out if you need anything.
Happy New Year and Happy Atlasing!
Amber
You Can Start Entering Atlas Data
As stated by Amber in her email, you can start entering Atlas Data. Effort is to be recorded in the designated Atlas Blocks. If you are concerned about staying in a block, then use the phone app as it will alert you when you are leaving a block. Short duration and distance checklists are best, so skip using the Hot Spot locations and make your own and consider limiting checklists to specific habitat types.Consider Signing Up to be the Principal Atlaser for a Block
If you are willing to do 20 hours of birding and 2 hours of owling effort (over 5 years if needed!) in a block then consider signing up to be the principal atlaser for a block. Club members are encouraged to sign up for their home-location block. The Atlas is primarily a project of reporting the most common birds, however If you need assistance to identify the less common species or more effort time to complete the block, then reach out to other birders you know or contact the County Coordinator for assistance. As noted in Amber’s email, County Coordinators will be responsible for approving the request for block ownership. If you are interested in doing so in Westmoreland County, then please feel free to contact Janet - let us know where you live, and we will get back to you when the Block Tool is functioning. You can also contact us for other counties, and we will direct you to the applicable County Coordinator.Atlas Documents
As noted in Amber's email Atlas documents are available on Facebook, but not on the Atlas Website. Here for easy access are the Handbook, and the Breeding Guidelines Chart. The instructions for setting a smart phone to the PA Bird Atlas portal will be made available later.PBA3 Handbook, Version 2.
PA Bird Atlas Breeding Guidelines Chart, Version 1, a detailed chart showing the non-breeding periods, migration periods, and breeding periods for each species.
PA Bird Atlas Beginning Safe Dates, a concise document listing the dates when each species safe breeding period begins.
For additional information or questions please feel free to contact either us or Tom and Janet Kuehl.
Roger & Margaret Higbee - rvhigbee@windstream.net; pba3.indiana@gmail.com; 412-309-3538; bcoriole@windstream.net (724-354-3493)
Tom Kuehl - Tjk.kuehl@gmail.com; 412-398-1977
Upcoming Events
December 2024 Meeting
- Tue, December 3, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
- Blue Spruce County Park Lodge
Tuesday Yellow Creek Outing
- Tue, December 17, 7:45 am
- Yellow Creek Park North Shore Gazebo
Tuesday Yellow Creek Outing
- Tue, December 24, 7:45 am
- Yellow Creek Park North Shore Gazebo
2024 Indiana Christmas Bird Count
- Thu, December 26, 12:01 am – 11:59 pm
- Indiana County
Tuesday Yellow Creek Outing
- Tue, December 31, 7:45 am
- Yellow Creek Park North Shore Gazebo
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