The Northeast Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership

Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Photo: George Jett

The Northeast Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership is an effort to strengthen and align bird monitoring programs from Virginia to Maine in order to build the scientific basis for bird conservation in the region.  Recognizing the tremendous value of cooperation and coordination between conservationists and scientists, ABC has been involved in this project since its inception. ABC has taken a leading role in developing the partnership, staffing the Project Coordinator position and administering the partnership in conjunction with several state, federal, and non-governmental organizations. Together, these groups have teamed up to:

• integrate monitoring into bird management and conservation practices
• broaden the scope of current monitoring for species that are most at risk
• coordinate monitoring programs among organizations and integrate them across spatial scales
• increase the value of monitoring information by improving statistical design
• maintain monitoring data in modern data management systems

These goals parallel those contained in Opportunities for Improving Avian Monitoring, a 2007 report by the Monitoring Subcommittee of the US North American Bird Conservation Initiative.

The Partnership offers a variety of tools and resources to support regionally coordinated bird monitoring, including an organizing framework, annual workshops, a survey design and implementation fund, and a data management system.  Our approach to coordination in the Northeast may serve as a model for improved bird monitoring throughout the United States .

The Northeast Coordinated Bird Monitoring Partnership is administered by American Bird Conservancy in collaboration with several state, federal, and non-governmental organizations. For more information, visit nebirdmonitor.org.  To request periodic updates, please contact the Northeast Bird Monitoring Coordinator.