COVID-19: The Atlas team reminds all atlassers to be aware of the latest COVID-19 conditions in Ontario. Please follow all public health guidelines and restrictions, and check for updates frequently. Information on the latest conditions and public health guidance can be found on the Government of Ontario website. Follow the links to the most current situation in the province.

Spruce Grouse photo: Mark Peck

Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum, renowned for his work on the Ontario Nest Records Scheme, and Emily Rondel of Environment and Climate Change Canada, who MC’s the Atlas Sappy Hour webinars, are leading a square-bash at Halfway Lake Provincial Park for the period June 10-15, 2022. Halfway Lake is a lovely area an hour north of Sudbury with great big glacial erratics and plenty of boreal habitat, including the potential for species such as the Connecticut Warbler, which reaches the southern edge of its breeding range in this area, and Spruce Grouse pictured above. The park has generously set aside 5 campsites for that period for atlassers to use free of charge. If you can join Mark and Emily for all or part of that period, please drop them a line at toronto[at]birdsontario.org, telling them what dates work for you, how many people are in your party and whether or not you can do point counts. Thanks to Ontario Parks for their support.

Response has been fantastic for the Grundy Lake Square-bash (also June 10-15) and it is now full – thanks to everyone for your enthusiasm. There is still room at the Mikisew Square-bash (June 17-22), where Ontario Parks is also providing free camping for atlassers for the event. Sudbury RC Darryl Edwards and Atlas Coordinator Mike Cadman will be leading the Grundy Lake event. Parry Sound RC Alex Mills, Manitoulin RC Anna Sheppard, and Atlas Assistant Coordinator Kaelyn Bumelis, will be leading the Mikisew event. Hoping you can join us for some enjoyable atlassing, and filling in some key gaps in Atlas coverage. Please e-mail atlas[at]birdsontario.org

Atlas Swag ​You can now purchase almost anything (T-shirts, caps, mugs, tote bags, etc.) with an Atlas logo on it. To view the merchandise and make your purchases, click here. Looking forward to seeing you stylishly sporting your Atlas gear!

Atlas stickers Is your windshield in need of some beautification? Is your travel mug or laptop looking too plain? Well, you can help spruce up these items, identify yourself as an atlasser, and provide some low-key promotion for the Atlas by using Atlas stickers in prominent places such as these. The clear plastic stickers with the Atlas logo, see example to the right, are being printed out and distributed to Regional Coordinators in time for the 2022 Kick-off event on April 23-24. Another great reason to make sure you attend in person.

Atlassing in northeastern Ontario

Ken Burrell

Breeding Bird Survey and the Atlas

Natasha Barlow

The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Atlas-3 are two complementary programs dedicated to collecting data on the distribution and abundance of breeding birds. As Ken notes in his experience collecting Atlas data and running BBS routes in northern Ontario, pairing a BBS route with Atlassing can double your impact in providing valuable data on Ontario’s breeding birds. 

One day a year, during the peak of the breeding season and for as many years as possible, skilled BBS observers run their assigned roadside route(s). Routes consist of 50 stops spaced 0.8 km apart along a 39.4-km route. Participants record the total number of individual bird species heard from any distance or seen within 0.4 km of each stop during a three-minute observation (i.e. point counts). In Canada, the acceptable dates for running routes are between 28 May and 7 July. These data are carefully analyzed on a yearly basis to provide information on bird population trends, relative abundance and species composition and richness at the local, regional and continental scale. BBS data are freely available, and are used by scientists, wildlife managers, educators, and students, as well as by the general public, and will be added to the Atlas database.

If you’re already Atlassing in Ontario, especially in the central and northern parts of the province, and are interested in adopting a BBS route to increase your impact, please reach out to Natasha Barlow (nbarlow[at]birdscanada.org) by mid-April to see how you can get involved, and/or visit the BBS website to view vacant routes near you. 

The Atlas will provide an unprecedented understanding of the status, distribution and abundance of Ontario’s birds, and together with the BBS, we can simultaneously collect data to help protect and conserve Canada’s birds for years to come. 

Early Season Atlassing – April targets

As we inch toward the peak breeding season more and more species are arriving back and beginning their own unique breeding season. While April is still early, many species have already begun their breeding season.

Reminders for early season atlassing

Don’t forget to refer to the breeding charts at www.birdsontario.org/safe-dates whenever you’re atlassing outside of peak atlassing season (May 24 to July 10). Exercise caution when using “lower” breeding codes during this time, especially outside of a species’ safe dates (when migrants/non-breeders may display similar behaviours).

April targets

Stick nesters: Before the trees leaf out is a good time to watch for stick nesters. Bald Eagle, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Great Blue Heron, and American Crow are prime targets. This is likely the last chance to confirm Common Ravens as they finish nesting early.

Accipiters: In addition to looking for their stick nests, all three species should be regularly doing their display flights over their territories, especially early in the morning. Watch for males to flap with slow, steady, and deep wingbeats with undertail coverts flared. This flight is much different than the typical direct flight these birds are known for. 

Owls: We are into safe dates for most owl species now so most observations can be atlassed. We are also into the period for standard surveys for Eastern Screech, Barred, Great Gray, Northern Saw-whet, Boreal, and Northern Hawk Owls. 

Other early season nesters: Many other species are beginning to establish territories. Until we are in the safe dates, remember to wait until you can apply a higher level breeding evidence code (e.g. wait for them to be maintaining a territory for at least a week). These include many resident and short-distance migrants common in backyards and urban areas such as various woodpeckers, Ruffed Grouse, American Woodcock, White-breasted Nuthatch. Many of these species will become more difficult to detect later in the year. Don’t forget that the drumming of woodpeckers and Ruffed Grouse and the display flight of American Woodcock counts as “singing” (S).

Updates from Significant Species Committee

Of the ~650,000 records submitted during year one to the Atlas, approximately 3% were flagged as Significant Species. All of those flagged records get reviewed first by Regional Coordinators and then a secondary review by the significant species committee.

In general, we encourage atlassers to focus on increasing the quality of details provided (and especially on pinning locations) for significant species records.

Don’t forget that depending on the flag, we’re looking for different information:

The Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas-3 thanks the following for their financial support:

The Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas-3 thanks the following for their in-kind support: