Mountain Birdwatch

Mountain Birdwatch was launched in the spring of 2000 to establish a long-term monitoring program for Bicknell's Thrush and other montane forest birds. Mountain Birdwatch began under the auspices of the VCE (at the time part of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science) Forest Bird Monitoring Program. Volunteers surveyed 12 mountains from 1993 to 1999 in order to monitor changes in the status of Bicknell’s Thrush and other high-elevation songbirds. In 2000, VCE biologists launched Mountain Birdwatch as an independent program with fifty additional routes in Vermont and offered observers the option to concentrate on five species: Bicknell’s Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata), White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), and Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). The survey region was expanded in 2001 to include over 100 new routes in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine. Mountain Birdwatch was developed to: 1) monitor the distribution and abundance of mountain-breeding birds in northern New England and New York; 2) describe the influence of landscape and habitat features on mountain bird distribution and abundance; and 3) guide stewardship of high-elevation forests. Mountain Birdwatch is also integral to the ongoing efforts of the International Bicknell’s Thrush Conservation Group. Since Mountain Birdwatch is the best source of information about Bicknell’s Thrush in the United States, MBW serves as the main tool to evaluate progress towards the group’s goals. In 2009 and early 2010, a Conservation Action Plan was developed for Bicknell’s Thrush, the goals of which were determined based on current population status and trend information for Bicknell’s Thrush across its breeding range. More information can be found on the Mountain Bird website: http://www.vtecostudies.org/MBW/index.html

Mountain Birdwatch

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