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North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset 1966 - 2023

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) David Jr. Ziolkowski, US Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: Laurel, MD, US; Michael Lutmerding, US Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: Laurel, MD, US; Willow English; Marie-Anne Hudson, Environment and Climate Change Canada: Ottawa, CA

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
50-StopData.zip application/zip 69.4 MB 05/29/2025 07:12:AM
Completeness_Report_NABBS_Dataset_1966-2023.pdf application/pdf 206.1 KB 05/29/2025 07:01:AM
MigrantNonBreeder.zip application/zip 254.2 KB 05/29/2025 07:01:AM
North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset (1966-2023).xml application/xml 122.3 KB 05/29/2025 07:00:AM
Routes.csv text/csv 313.7 KB 05/29/2025 07:01:AM
RunType.pdf application/pdf 618.4 KB 05/29/2025 07:01:AM
SpeciesList.csv text/csv 71.6 KB 05/29/2025 07:01:AM
States.zip application/zip 64 MB 05/29/2025 07:02:AM
VehicleData.csv text/csv 55.7 MB 05/29/2025 07:02:AM
Weather.csv text/csv 12.9 MB 05/29/2025 07:01:AM

Project Citation: 

Ziolkowski, David Jr., Lutmerding, Michael, English, Willow, and Hudson, Marie-Anne. North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset 1966 - 2023. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-05-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/E231303V1

Project Description

Project Title:  View help for Project Title North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset 1966 - 2023
Summary:  View help for Summary The 1966-2023 North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) dataset contains avian point count data for more than 700 North American bird taxa (species, races, and unidentified species groupings). These data are collected annually during the breeding season, primarily in June, along thousands of randomly established roadside survey routes in the United States and Canada. Routes are roughly 24.5 miles (39.2 km) long with counting locations placed at approximately half-mile (800-m) intervals, for a total of 50 stops. At each stop, a citizen scientist highly skilled in avian identification conducts a 3-minute point count, recording all birds seen within a quarter-mile (400-m) radius and all birds heard. Surveys begin 30 minutes before local sunrise and take approximately 5 hours to complete. Routes are surveyed once per year, with the total number of routes sampled per year growing over time; just over 500 routes were sampled in 1966, while in recent decades approximately 3000 routes have been sampled annually. No data are provided for 2020. BBS field activities were cancelled in 2020 because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic and observers were directed to not sample routes. In addition to avian count data, this dataset also contains survey date, survey start and end times, start and end weather conditions, a unique observer identification number, route identification information, and route location information including country, state, and BCR, as well as geographic coordinates of route start point, and an indicator of run data quality.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources United States Geographical Survey (USGS), Eastern Ecological Science Center
Original Distribution URL:  View help for Original Distribution URL https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/data/USGS:66d9ed16d34eef5af66d534b

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Birds; avian point count; biodiversity; bird population; bird abundance; wildlife biology
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage North America, United States, Canada
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1966 – 2023 (1966 to 2023)
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 1966 – 2023 (1966 to 2023)
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) observational data


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Published Versions

V2 [2025-06-06]

V1 [2025-05-29]

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