Information on distribution, abundance, and
population trends of all North American bird species is required for
developing sound conservation strategies, identifying species in need
of particular conservation action, and evaluating the effectiveness of
current management programs. Most species of nocturnal owls are poorly
monitored by existing multi-species surveys, such as the Breeding Bird
Survey, Migration Monitoring, and Christmas Bird Counts. Several
regions of Canada and the United States have established
volunteer-based nocturnal roadside surveys for breeding owls. These
appear to be an effective means of monitoring many species of owls,
but there is considerable variation in the methods used.
In September 1999, representatives from the main
volunteer surveys in Canada met in Winnipeg, Manitoba to develop a set
of standards for owl monitoring that would allow data to be integrated
across surveys, while recognizing geographic variation in target
species and survey objectives. Over the next couple of years, these
discussions have continued, involving extensive outside input, and
have resulted in the development of guidelines for survey protocols
that we hope will be adopted by all organizations running nocturnal
roadside surveys for owls in North America, in order to ensure that
data can be adequately standardized, and integrated across surveys.
These guidelines can be downloaded in digital format
by clicking here
If you would like to obtain a printed copy, please
contact:
Lisa Takats
Priestley
Rm. 200, 4999-98 Avenue,
Edmonton, Alberta T6B 2X3
Phone: (780) 951-8901
FAX: (780) 495-2615
lisa.priestley@ec.gc.ca
Bird Studies Canada is involved in running surveys
in three provinces in Canada: New Brunswick,
Ontario,
and British Columbia. For further information, check out their
respective pages.
