ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Maryland Ornithological Society, along with Maryland Department
of Natural Resources, the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center and other conservation groups, has begun a second five-year
Breeding Bird Atlas Project covering all of Maryland and the
District of Columbia. The purpose of this project is to map
the distribution of all bird species that breed in Maryland
and
the District. Bird populations are a good indicator of the
health of the environment. They are easily seen and occupy
a wide variety of habitats; natural or human-caused changes
in a particular habitat are reflected in the numbers and variety
of birds.
The first breeding bird atlas was done in Great Britain in
1968 and the first atlas in North America was done in Howard
and Montgomery Counties in Maryland in 1975. The Maryland
Ornithological Society coordinated a statewide breeding bird
atlas project from 1983-7 and the resulting atlas, published
in 1996, has been an important tool for government officials
and other land use planners. This new study will determine
how the diversity and distribution of breeding birds has changed
over the last 15 years. The data generated can be used to
gauge the success of existing conservation programs, help
environmental planners make decisions about resource management,
determine the effects of land use changes and provide research
opportunities.
For further information about the Atlas Project, including
data for DC and the other MD counties, please visit the Maryland
Ornithological Society website,
www.mdbirds.org
and click on the Maryland/DC Breeding Bird Atlas Project logo.
