Institutional Datasets
Do you have bird data that you can share with the Atlas?
As the third Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas comes to a close, we are looking for datasets of bird observations to bulk upload to the Atlas from academic institutions, NGOs, conservation authorities, government agencies, indigenous communities, or any other sources of bird data. Help us create the most accurate picture of bird populations in the province by sharing your data with us!
Please see below for acceptable data types and criteria:
- Observation must have taken place during the Atlas-3 period (i.e. any time between 2021 and 2025).
- Observations with breeding evidence or point counts are highly desirable, but any bird observations are beneficial to the Atlas, and will be accepted.
- Traveling, stationary, or incidental observations.
- Point counts – standardized 3, 5 or 10 minute surveys
Please submit the data to the Atlas office by January 31, 2026.
Data use and sharing policy
Atlas data will be stored in the data repository, NatureCounts, and will be freely available online to all parties involved in bird conservation and research, and all other wildlife-related decision making. Locations of sensitive species will not be available without approval from a representative of the Atlas. Check out NatureCounts’ Data Sharing Policy for more information.
If you need to discuss sharing options, please reach out to the Atlas office (atlas@birdsontario.org).
How to submit bulk institutional data
NOTE: If you are unable to input the raw data into either of the templates mentioned below, you may still send them in and one of the Atlas staff will facilitate formatting it into the appropriate template.
STEP 1 – Enter your bulk data into one of the following templates below, depending on the data type. Please refer to the column headers in each template for more information on each data field.
- General Atlas Template -> For incidental, stationary, or traveling counts, please enter the data into the General Atlas Template
- Point Count Template -> For point count surveys (stationary and standardized 3, 5, or 10 minute surveys) please enter the data into the Point Count Template.
STEP 2 – If you filled out a General Atlas Template with a traveling count and have precise locations of SAR/rare/colonial species, you can also fill out a Rare Species Template to include the pinned locations of these species. If you do not have pinned locations, please proceed to step 3.
STEP 3 – Once you have the data ready in the appropriate template, send it to the Atlas office at atlas@birdsontario.org.
Thank you!
We understand that not all datasets are the same and there will likely be many questions about what data to include and how to include it, so please don’t be afraid to reach out to the Atlas office with any questions. The Atlas greatly appreciates your data and recognizes the time and resources involved in collecting the data. Your contributions will go a long way to helping the Atlas achieve its goals and, ultimately, informing bird conservation for years to come!
Additional Resources
For mapping files of the ON Atlas squares, please download the ON Squares kmz file or the ON Squares shp file.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the Atlas office by email at atlas@birdsontario.org