The Summer Atlas of North American Birds

Abstract

The North American Breeding Bird Survey comprises a network of regularly censussed, road-based survey routes and constitutes the most comprehensive set of data on the relative abundance and population trends of these birds during the summer months. Its value was highlighted in 1989, when the data were used to confirm suspected population declines in a number of species of neotropical migrants breeding in the northeastern United States and Canada. In this book Jeff and Amy Price and Sam Droege have used these data to create detailed, computer-generated maps showing the relative abundance of 450 species that summer in the contiguous United States and southern Canada. Tabular information on distribution hotspots for these, and a further 50 or so species too local in occurrence to map effectively, are also presented. As a data-based survey, the focus of the maps is on places where occurrence has been systematically confirmed over a number of years. As such, the maps provide a baseline for future and more regionally based studies. Supporting chapters provide details on the survey methodology, the mapping procedures used, and some current concerns in North American bird conservation.