Table Of ContentALBERTA
BIRD ATLAS
NEWSLETTER
A Project of the Federation of Alberto Naturalists
Editor: H. Loney Dickson
Vol. 5, No. 1 Executive Director: Albert Brule
Spring, 1991
I I SSN 0833-773X |
nies who are concerned about their
ALBERTA BIRD ATLAS- place to assist in collecting and tran-
scribing data onto cards for entry. image relative to the environment. A
Project Update!
REGIONAL COORDINATORS/VOLUNTEER strategy to approach selected employers
As of January 1991, the Alberta Bird with a request to loan these staff mem-
atlassers — This approach represents bers to t he ABAP for one or two weeks
Atlas Project (ABAP) has completed
the traditional method by which data
four of the five years planned for data was suggested by ABAP advisors.
have been collected since the project's
collection. (Time flies when you're hav- inception. Our strategy for 1991 is to An extension of this approach
ing fun!) Unfortunately, based on the concentrate the efforts of the existing would see the incorporation of atlas
cumulative data from 1987-1990, the core of volunteers to completing squares priority squares into 1991 work plans
ABAP faces a tremendous challenge
further afield, and, to encourage volun- and fieldwork conducted by participat-
if i t is to meet its September 1991 tar- teers in r egions which are relatively ing agencies. STEP positions could also
get date for completion.
well covered to atlas squares in neigh- be instructed to provide some man-
Hence, after a number of long bouring regions. hours in support of the ABAP.
brainstorming sessions, which took into
Additional squares in each region
consideration the size and morale of
will be identified for local square-bash- Conclusion
Alberta's naturalist community in rela- ing field trips organized in collaboration
tion to t he size and ecological diversity with natural history or bird clubs. The strategy outlined above is meant to
of the territory to be covered, the ABAP provide the methods by which a mini-
devised an action plan for the 1991 field go for remote! — For the northern -most mum target can be reached in 1991.
season. half of the province, the ABAP is re- This target relies heavily on volun-
cruiting skilled, back country, experi- teers, and hence is only limited by
enced volunteer atlassers for 32 trips to
Action Plan your commitment! I c an't emphasize
remote areas of northern Alberta. Inter- enough the importance of getting out
The 1991 plan comprises five data col- ested volunteers will work closely with and covering your atlas square in 1991.
head office to plan and execute success- If we all increase our dedication to this
lection processes — offering volunteers a
wide variety of opportunities to contrib- ful expeditions that collect data from 34 project, the end result will not only be
ute— to produce a meaningful and cred- priority blocks. an enjoyable and attractive book about
ible atlas. (The key words here are vol- block-busting teams — Not unlike many the birds of Alberta - but as well, we
unteers and contribute!) will have the satisfaction of knowing we
other atlas projects that have had to
devise final year thrusts to complete contributed to a credible data base wor-
DATA FROM EXISTING SOURCES — During
the ABAP time frame, 1987-1991, a data collection, the ABAP must organ- thy ofm be nats diencigs io nfsu toun.r e resource manage-
ize a s eries of block-busting teams to
number of government, non-profit and
private bodies have undertaken various work in regions where volunteer man- Most importantly, atlassing can be
data collection activities: wildlife inven- power isi nsufficient. Employment pro- fun! So if one of the methods above ap-
tories, bird counts, studies, casual grams such as STEP and SEED will
notes, etc. A province-wide campaign to give students the opportunity to spend poetalhse tro y waoyu t,o coro n ytorui'bvuet e ,t h opluegahste offe e aln -f ree
identify and persuade individuals to an exciting summer in outdoors Al- to contact the Alberta Bird Atlas Project
berta.
head office at the Provincial Museum of
pass on data that can augment the at-
las data information base will be imple- secondments — Many of the active Alberta (453-9163). We look forward to
mented. Carolyn Seburn, a research atlassers of the ABAP are employed by hearing from you soon! □
assistant through PEP, is already in
government agencies or major compa- — Petra Stubbs, Project Manager
2
HERE Somehow, saying 30 seconds of • and baseline data to assist the pro-
THANKS FOR '90.
thanks to all of you for all your hours vincial government in the selection
COMES '91 of candidate Natural Areas
and hours of birdwatching doesn't seem
like enough... I can only hope that it is
It's hard to believe that here we are Even before the Alberta Bird Atlas
already anticipating the first few notes thanks enough to know that you are
Project publishes, the data you collect is
contributing to a very worthwhile
of spring, when it seems like only yes- working hard to help protect the birds
terday fI inally cleaned up the needles project and in the end, just enjoying the cf Alberta. □
from the Christmas tree! birds will be enough.
— Carolyn Seburn
In the past month, I've heard volun- So for what it's worth - Thank you
teers from across the province making for a great 1990! But before we rest
too long on our laurels, look out! Here
up plans for the summer - exciting hot
comes '911 □
spots they're going to visit, favourite
birds they're hoping to catch a glimpse — Petra Stubbs, Project Manager LEND US YOUR DATA UPDATE
of, and some of the fun things like ca-
noeing, hiking and horseback riding In the last newsletter we asked people
that will be included with their plans. to send in notes they had taken about
But before we get too far into 1991, birds seen outside their atlas square.
WHERE DOES IT A LL GO? We've also been contacting agencies
I t hink it's important to reflect a few
moments on 1990. throughout Alberta that may have data
For four years now you've been slogging hidden away in filing cabinets which
The more I g et involved with the through the mud and feeding mosqui- could contribute to the Atlas. Even
Alberta Bird Atlas Project, the more I toes trying to find that elusive next bird though we have just started this cam-
become impressed with the volunteer nest to record for posterity. For four
paign we h ave already had a tremen-
effort without which - this project years now you've been dutifully (we dous response. Many of you responded
couldn't exist. hope) sending in your data cards. But to the note in the last newsletter with
where does it all go?
There are few projects indeed, that offers of data from your cottage or note-
can boast of such a determined and When you send in a data card to books. Provincial and Federal govern-
dedicated work force! The province is ment offices have been generous in
your regional coordinator the first thing
large. The difficulties at times seem that happens is that he or she looks it offering us access to their data and Al-
insurmountable (especially when you're over, contacts you if there are problems berta Forestry offices have been espe-
up to your knees in mud, the road you and then sends it on to head office. cially enthusiastic. Although these
sources of data rarely provide complete
thought was underneath you has disap- When we receive the cards Petra checks
peared, and the mosquitoes are closing them over and sends them to the com- coverage of a particular square they can
in for the kill. . . ) b ut still our Atlassers help fill in the gaps and often provide
puter. Finally, I c heck them over, add
find ways to succeed. them to our summaries and store them details on particular key species.
The result of this hard work to date in our files. In the near future I w ill Thanks to everyone who sent us infor-
has been a total of 1,926 data cards begin soliciting species documentation mation and keep looking for that elu-
forms where necessary. sive slip o f paper where you jotted down
submitted to head office (and I k now
the location of a nest you happened to
there's more out there, right Rick?). But! Ycur data cards do not spend stumble across. □
Approximately 553 priority squares all their time in the dark recesses of a
have been visited at least once. The file cabinet because two or three times a — Carolyn Seburn
data base is growing and as you can see month we receive a request for data
from the rest of this newsletter, prelimi- from various sources. If the request is
nary work on maps and other aspects of
approved by the management commit-
publication are underway. All thanks to tee your data may be sent out to aid
our volunteers! research in a variety of ways. Here are CHECKING YOUR DATA
Perhaps even more importantly, the some of the ways your data has been CARDS
used in the past few months:
data is beginning to be recognized as a
In reviewing the data cards we have
credible source of information to re-
• COSEWIC status reports on the received for the 1990 field season there
searchers, managers, planners and
Sedge Wren, Long-billed Curlew are a number of recurring problems
developers. Both government and non- and Northern Hawk Owl
that I w ould like to point out. The
government agencies are realizing the
value of a province- wide avian inven- • research on Purple Martins and proper use of abundance codes has al-
House Finches ways been a difficulty in the project and
tory not only for monitoring endangered
I w ould like to reiterate that values
and or other species, but also for moni- • a preliminary bird list for the new refer to the maximum number of indi-
that hotuorsinge thse w e alnld- b efienegd s o ft h tehsee v sepreyc i hesa.b i t(aOtf AAnrena and Sandy Cross Conservation viduals seen at one time. Therefore, if
you see a pair or a nest with young, it i s
course, we knew that all along, didn't
we?)
3
not possible for the correct abundance GUIDELINES TO DETERMINE The square my family has been working
code to be zero. Note also that the codes on works out this way:
THE NUMBER OF EXPECTED
indicated ranges of values (i.e. code 1
SPECIES IN A SQUARE Substantial forest, all ages 60 species
; m eans 2 to 10 individuals seen) not
Permanent settlement 5 species
actual number seen.
Small marshy areas,
[Petra and I t hought the following ex-
Another common difficulty is the cerpts from a letter Petra received from sloughs and lakes 35 species
identifying feature of the square. This Iris Davies would be useful to many Heavily grazed grassland _]£ species
should be the name of the largest town, Atlassers. — Ed. J
Total 115 species
lake or river in or near the square. It Dear Petra,
has nothing to do with habitat. It is our We expect to find breeding
way of being able to double check that evidence for 75% of these 87 species
I've been playing with the computer to
the block and square assignment is try and get some information out to the There should be
i correct. Atlassers and I h ave the information for 50% of these confirmed 44 species
There should be
Finally, there appears to be some you on what I've been using for criteria
to determine if squares are complete. 35% of these probable 30 species
confusion about the proper use of some
There should be
of the breeding codes. When should H I've been working straight out of the
book and then checking what informa- 15% of these possible 13 species
be used rather than X? X should only be
used to imply that the bird seen is likely askedt ion hI t ahvee A tolna s hsaebrist a ttso, g ibvuet mIe'v e t haelisro Obviously it's time for us to move on, we
to be a migrant (because of the time have breeding evidence - 98,
period or habitat) or that it is thought opinions. They may feel they've checked CO -72, PR -8, PO-18.
every habitat and seen all they will see
to be only incidental to the square, per-
haps breeding outside it (again because or they may feel I've jumped the gun I e xpect between 20 or 30 fewer
and there are more birds out there. species for the squares in the southern
of lack of appropriate habitat). X could
I also be used if the individual is a This is what I h ave sent the area. For the squares which have exten-
sive cultivated acres I h ave taken off
II s ubadult. Atlassers. The guideline to deter- between 20 (north) and 10 (south)
mine the number of expected species
What about the use of N versus
NB? As explained on the data cards, N in a square will be: species. □
— Sincerely yours, Iris Davies
should only be used for wrens and 1 . If the square has a substantial
; w oodpeckers while NB should be used amount of forest of various compositions
for all other species but not wrens and and ages, count 60 species, unless there
i woodpeckers. The reason behind this is
isn't any significant amount of decidu-
, that both wrens and woodpeckers may ous forest, in which case count only 50
< build more than one nest. Male wrens GRAaRrEg a BnIeRyD REPORT-
species. Subtract 5 species if t here isn't
, build several nests and then try to con- any mature forest of large trees.
I v ince a female to mate and lay eggs in
2. If there is permanent settlement [The following are excerpts from a rare
| o ne of them. Woodpeckers use nests not add 5 species. bird report sent in by Lloyd Bennett
; only for breeding but also for roosting. which I thought the readers would like
Therefore, in both cases, nest building 3. If there is extensive marsh land and to hear about. Ed.]
\ behaviour only suggests probable breed- sloughs add 25 species, but if t here are
! ing not confirmed breeding. only a few small marshy areas add 10. Dear Rob, May 14,1990
Lastly, territoriality can only be If you haven't added anything for I am making this report on the
marshes, but have large areas of bog Garganey which I sighted May 6, 1990.
| p resumed if territorial behaviour is
and fen, add 10 species. If both habitats
I s een (or heard) in the same location on
are represented, add 30 species. I was on my way to town to attend a
i at least two occasions a week or more
church choir practice, and I t ook the
j a part. Therefore codes of T cannot be 4. If there are areas of open water longer route, so as to pass through the
accepted it the observer indicated that such as lakes and rivers add 15 species.
edge of my atlas square. About two and
the site was only visited for one or a few If the square has both marsh land, a half miles away from my home I
days in a row. sloughs and lakes, and rivers, add a
passed a very shallow puddle in the
total of 35 species.
Please keep these comments in ditch, which was about 50' long. In this
I! m ind when filling out your data cards 5. If there is extensive prairie or puddle I n oticed a duck the size of a
I f or the 1991 season. The faster we are teal. I t hought at first it might be a
lightly grazed grassland, add 25 spe-
! a ble to process your data the sooner cies. Ift he grassland is heavily grazed, hybrid between blue- winged and cinna-
mon teal; since it h ad a rusty head and
particularly in parkland areas, add only
( w e'll have an Atlas out for us all to neck and a white mark on the head.
i e njoy. □ 15 species.
Using binoculars I w as able to get a
— Carolyn Seburn
good look at the duck. Much to my sur-
.continued
4
prise and excitement, it was something ALBERTA BIRD ATLAS Figure 1 provides a partial picture
that I h ad not seen before and had no of the level of completeness of each
DISTRIBUTION MAPS
square that has been started and also
idea what it was. So I s aid to myself, "I
where no data has been collected. As
have to get a picture of this." I r aced Yes, we have finally done it! We are
back home and got my camera but now not only able to see visually how suspected the north still needs a lot of
when I r eturned the duck flew away many squares have been completed or work to both complete squares and to
before I c ould get a picture. I t hen left just started (Figure 1) but we can also initiate squares. Don't forget the results
and returned to the spot a couple of produce maps of any given species from a square completed in the north
hours later. The duck had come back will be extrapolated to represent 10,000
which shows the breeding status re-
and was dabbling in the water. So I corded to d ate. The maps in this article sq. km. while a square in the south is
approached it very slowly, taking pic- only present data which has been en- extrapolated to only 100 sq. km. Thus a
tures as I w ent. Finally I w as able to get tered onto the computer. Thus some of lot more coverage is required in the
about 50' away from it and get one last the 1990 data is missing. south than the north. The reader should
picture before it flew away to a small
slough about 50 yards away. Here is the
description as I r ecorded it.
The head and neck were brownish-
rusty, not nearly so bright rusty as cin-
namon teal but more brownish. It had a
thick white line above the eye, which
tapered down to a very thin line as it
extended towards the back of the head;
the two lines almost met. The chest was
brown with small round spots very
much like a male blue-winged teal, also
the flanks were this colour. It had a
large medium gray patch on the sides,
about the same size as the chestnut
patch on the shoulder. I d on't remember
other details about the back or wings. It
seemed to be exactly the same size as
the blue-winged teal and was found in
the same habitat of shallow sloughs.
The weather conditions on that day
were extremely windy and dusty, with
limited visibility. It also became cloudy
as the wind shifted from west to north-
west. Under these conditions it was
hard to get good pictures, but it did not
affect the use of binoculars. My binocu-
lars were 7-15 x 35 zoom, my camera
lens a 300 mm. The location was about
five miles north of Taber and three
miles east. This is located in square No.
VL22, in the Medicine Hat region. I was
able to observe the bird for several min-
utes.
This is all that I c an think of to
report. I w ill send you a picture when
they are ready. Thanks for helping me
identify the bird, since I w ould have
gone crazy not knowing what it was.
Hope you have more good luck with the Figure 1.
Number of Species Seen
atlassing this year. □
» 91 +
— Yours truly, Lloyd Bennet
9 51 to 90
P.S. I f ound a pair of long-eared owls in
o 1 to 50
VK19 (Chin Lake area). Hopefully I c an
find them nesting.
5
also note that this map represents the the 82 dots for ferruginous hawk, 49 are reference to historical distribution, it is
number of species seen in a surveyed confirmed breeding and 13 were prob- obvious that the species is distributed
square and not the level of breeding able breeding status. Thus 75% of the similarly in 1990 as it was in 1976 al-
status. squares that ferruginous hawk was though the o ne confirmed breeding
I h ave included species maps for observed in have at least probable record just south of the North Saskatch-
breeding status. This is possibly a re- ewan River does extend the breeding
only four species: the ferruginous hawk,
flection oft he interest shown to this
bald eagle, alder flycatcher and the range approximately 100 kilometres
species and the open terrain it nests in. north from the range presented by Salt
mallard. I f ound it interesting that of
Using only Salt and Salt (1976) as a and Salt (1976).
Ferruginous Hawk
▲ Confirmed
o Possible
o Probable
I p ut in the alder flycatcher to let
o Observed
people see that this is a species which
could easily add a confirmed breeding
species to your square, especially in
central and southwestern Alberta. It is
Please note change in legend symbols in the north as well. But what is hap-
pening in t he southeast? Salt and Salt
(1976) record alder flycatcher as breed-
ing throughout Alberta.
6
Please note change in legend symbols
The bald eagle map is really inter- I t hrew the mallard in just to show
esting when compared to Salt and Salt everyone that even the common species
(1976). We have numerous confirmed can use some more work.
and probable breeding records south-
I h ope this will encourage everyone
east of t he Athabasca River. Salt and
to get out this year and flog the bushes
Salt (1976) report that the bald eagle
and ponds of Alberta and to send in
formerly nested across the prairies but
those field notes since even that Mal-
at the time of writing was confined to ALBERTA BIRD ATLAS PROJECT, C/O
the Rocky Mountains and the northern lard nest you saw might be im-
half of Alberta. portant. □
ydlberta
References: W.R. Salt and J.R. Salt, CULTURE AND MUL71CULTURAUSM
PROVINCIAL MUSEUM OF ALBERTA
1976. The Birds of A lberta. Hurtig Pub- 12845- 102 Avenue
lishers, Edmonton. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
T5N 0M6
— Loney Dickson
