This data release includes measures of vertically-integrated reflectivity (VIR) and estimates of linear trends in VIR as observed by the Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) stations along the Gulf of Mexico during spring and autumn migrations from 2018-2020. The VIR is a measure of bird density and can be used to map the spatial distribution of birds as they leave stopover habitat and resume nocturnal migration. This data release also includes seasonal and multi-year summary statistics.

Data files in this data series represent migrating bird count and habitat information collected during 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1994 field seasons at 13 riparian sites along the San Pedro River and its tributaries in southeastern Arizona, USA. At each site observations were made at up to 20 points, separated by 100 m arrayed along the riparian zone. Observation periods started at 20 minutes after sunrise, lasted for 7 minutes at each point and were completed within 4 hours. Bird detection and species identification were based on visual sighting, song, and call. Recorded observations were the number of individuals of each detected species detected using each detection method at each point and site within specified distance bands during each observation day (each point visited only once per day). Sites were visited from 11 to 22 times across the 3 field seasons. The Arizona bird count data release includes a CSV file with survey and site location data, including latitudes and longitudes for each site location. All codes and acronyms from the data are defined in the metadata, with the exception of a list of 4 letter species acronyms for which there is a key included as an attachment on the ScienceBase page.

We operated a bird banding station on the Point Loma peninsula in western San Diego County, California, during spring and summer from 2011 to 2015. The station was established in 2010 as part of a long-term monitoring program for neotropical migratory birds during spring migration and for breeding birds as part of the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program. During spring migration (April and May), 2011–15, we captured 1,760 individual birds of 54 species, 91 percent (1,595) of which were newly banded, fewer than 1 percent (3) of which were recaptures that were banded in previous years, and 9 percent (143 hummingbirds, 2 hawks, and 17 other birds) of which we released unbanded. We observed an additional 22 species that were not captured. Thirty-four individuals were captured more than once. Bird capture rate averaged 0.49 ± 0.07 captures per net-hour (range 0.41–0.56). Species richness per day averaged 6.87 ± 0.33. Cardellina pusilla (Wilson’s warbler) was the most abundant spring migrant captured, followed by Empidonax difficilis (Pacific-slope flycatcher), Vireo gilvus (warbling vireo), Zonotrichia leucophrys (white-crowned sparrow), and Selasphorus rufus (rufous hummingbird). Captures of white-crowned sparrow decreased, and captures of Pacific-slope flycatcher increased, over the 5 years of our study. Fifty-six percent of known-sex individuals were male and 44 percent were female. The peak number of new species arriving per day ranged from April 1 (2013-six species) to April 16 (2012-five species). These data support the following publication: Lynn, Suellen, Madden, M.C., and Kus, B.E., 2017, Monitoring breeding and migration of neotropical migratory birds at Point Loma, San Diego County, California, 5-year summary, 2011–15: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017-1042, 119 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171042 and data can be found by navigating to USGS Bird Banding Laboratory: https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/ and Institute for Bird Populations: http://www.birdpop.org/pages/maps.php.

The majority of landbirds breeding in eastern North America migrate through the Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico; hereafter Gulf) region during spring and fall. Rarely do migratory landbirds make nonstop flights between breeding and non-breeding areas, rather they stopover in habitats (a.k.a. stopover sites) en route to rest and refuel. Forested habitats in the northern Gulf region provide the last possible stopover for fall migrants making a trans-Gulf flight south, and the first possible landfall for birds returning north in spring. Forested stopover sites also provide resources to millions of circum-Gulf migrants, yet the quality and quantity of these sites have both decreased over time. Thus, land managers and conservation planners have a critical need for data on the quality and quantity of available habitat in relation to where peak numbers of birds consistently stop to rest and forage. We developed a spatially explicit bioenergetics model to determine whether sufficient food resources are available to landbirds during spring and fall migrations in the northern Gulf region. Using field and remotely sensed data, we predicted food energy supply, bird energy demand and their difference (i.e., energy surplus versus deficit) at a 240-m2 spatial resolution for hardwood forests (i.e., NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program codes 9, 11, and 13) within 85 km of the Gulf from Brownsville, TX to Key West, FL. This data release is a subset that includes maps of food energy supply, bird energy demand, and energy surplus/deficit during periods of peak migration (late April and late September) for the region within the Gulf Coast Joint Venture planning boundary, an area that extends from Brownsville, TX to Mobile, AL.

These data describe bird locations obtained from backpack-mounted GPS loggers on several species of waterfowl and of Northern Harrier captured and marked in California and Oregon. Both cursory and opportunistic quality control have been performed on these data during the course of data collection. These methods include identification of mortalities and translational errors in digital transmission of data resulting in gross positional or temporal errors such as transposed digits.

This dataset was used to characterize and report trends of landbird population parameters across the Chihuahuan Desert Network from 2010 to 2014, 2016, and 2017 (Big Bend National Park only) in "Landbird Monitoring in the Chihuahuan Desert Network: 2010-2017 Synthesis Report" by Colbaugh and others (2024). As such, it is most useful for replicating or extending that landbird synthesis analysis. It was part of a larger effort to monitor landbirds in National Parks across the southwest and southern plains conducted in cooperation with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (formerly, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory). The overall goal of the CHDN landbird monitoring program was to detect biologically significant changes in population and community parameters over time, focusing on a set of complementary attributes— species richness and composition, occupancy, and density— that together provide a comprehensive assessment of changes in bird populations and communities. We used point-transect surveys to sample two habitat classes: grassland (upland) and riparian. Sampling locations were selected within park-habitat classes, either randomly or systematically, using a spatially balanced distribution of points. Samples were replicated either spatially (for most parks) or temporally (for three small parks). The general window of breeding and sampling was from April through June, when increased territorial behavior by songbirds results in higher detection rates and greater sampling efficiency. Quality and reliability standards were sustained throughout the data acquisition and preparation process. In addition to the survey data, it includes two tables which can be found in the synthesis report: Table 2-6 - Breeding Habitat Guilds and Appendix B - Bird Species in the Chihuahuan Desert Network. More information about these tables can be found in the synthesis report.

This dataset was used to characterize and report trends of landbird population parameters across the Chihuahuan Desert Network from 2010 to 2014, 2016, and 2017 (Big Bend National Park only) in "Landbird Monitoring in the Chihuahuan Desert Network: 2010-2017 Synthesis Report" by Colbaugh and others (2024). As such, it is most useful for replicating or extending that landbird synthesis analysis. It was part of a larger effort to monitor landbirds in National Parks across the southwest and southern plains conducted in cooperation with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (formerly, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory). The overall goal of the CHDN landbird monitoring program was to detect biologically significant changes in population and community parameters over time, focusing on a set of complementary attributes— species richness and composition, occupancy, and density— that together provide a comprehensive assessment of changes in bird populations and communities. We used point-transect surveys to sample two habitat classes: grassland (upland) and riparian. Sampling locations were selected within park-habitat classes, either randomly or systematically, using a spatially balanced distribution of points. Samples were replicated either spatially (for most parks) or temporally (for three small parks). The general window of breeding and sampling was from April through June, when increased territorial behavior by songbirds results in higher detection rates and greater sampling efficiency. Quality and reliability standards were sustained throughout the data acquisition and preparation process. In addition to the survey data, it includes two tables which can be found in the synthesis report: Table 2-6 - Breeding Habitat Guilds and Appendix B - Bird Species in the Chihuahuan Desert Network. More information about these tables can be found in the synthesis report.

The data frame provides geo-referenced data on presence of six species of en route migrant shorebirds in wetlands within the prairie pothole region in the U.S. during the spring migration periods of 2002 and 2012. Surveys were conducted at wetlands within townships selected in a stratified random procedure, with strata based on landscape composition of agricultural cropland and total area of wetlands.

The data frame provides geo-referenced data on presence of six species of en route migrant shorebirds in wetlands within the prairie pothole region in the U.S. during the spring migration periods of 2002 and 2012. Surveys were conducted at wetlands within townships selected in a stratified random procedure, with strata based on landscape composition of agricultural cropland and total area of wetlands.

This data package contains North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) Inventory and Monitoring Program landbird monitoring data collected during 2005-2023 at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI), Mount Rainier National Park (MORA), North Cascades National Park Complex (NOCA), Olympic National Park (OLYM), and San Juan Island National Historical Park (SAJH). The protocol, publications, and all other associated links can be found in the project reference at: NCCN Landbird Monitoring https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2097578 National parks in the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) can fulfill vital roles as refuges for bird species dependent on late-successional forest conditions and as reference sites for assessing the effects of land-use and land-cover changes on bird populations throughout the larger Pacific Northwest region. These changes may result from regional processes such as land conversion and forest management, or from broader-scale phenomena such as global climate change. Monitoring population trends at ‘control’ sites in national parks is especially important because the parks are among the few sites in the United States where population trends resulting from large-scale regional or global change patterns are relatively unaffected by local changes in land use. Long-term monitoring of landbirds throughout the NCCN provides information that can inform decisions about important management issues in the parks, including visitor impacts, fire management, and the effects of introduced species. Landbirds are vital to every Northwest ecosystem. They are critical food-chain links, eating millions of seeds and insects and in turn, are prey for other creatures. Because they have specific needs for food, nest sites, and habitats they are easily impacted by change. For these reasons, birds are among the most sensitive indicators of ecosystem health and monitoring them is one of the most efficient ways to take the ecological pulse of an area. Surveys were conducted in three large wilderness parks: North Cascades (NOCA), Olympic (OLYM), and Mount Rainier (MORA) National Parks and in two small parks: Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI) and San Juan Island National Historical Park (SAJH). Objectives are to 1) detect trends in the density of as many landbird species (including passerines, near-passerines, and galliformes) as possible throughout accessible areas of five NCCN parks during the breeding season and 2) track changes in the breeding season distribution of landbird species throughout accessible areas of the large wilderness parks.