Year 1 of the Atlas is winding down. Only a few species are showing any signs of breeding, while many have already started their long journey south. We’ll be pouring through the data over the next few months, but in the meantime, here are some accomplishments from year 1.
- More breeding observations were submitted in year 1 than in the entire second Atlas! Just under 725,000 records were submitted this year, compared to 519,562 records for the second Atlas. Granted the data are being collected in a different manner, but this shows the scale of your efforts. Incredible!
- Over 1500 atlasers have submitted more than 100,000 checklists!
- The top 10 Atlasers confirmed 100 or more species each. Wow!
- Of the state’s roughly 250 breeding species, 215 were confirmed breeding in 2020 (199 in priority blocks).
Bald Eagles have repopulated much of the state since the DDT was banned and reintroduction efforts were implemented. More Bald Eagles were confirmed breeding in the state in 2020 than in either of the previous Atlases.
- 79% of priority blocks and 73% of all blocks were visited. Blocks in more rural areas are lacking coverage, as expected. We hope to fill in those gaps in 2021 if the pandemic is under control.
- The county with the most hours logged atlasing was Tompkins at 5670 hours, which comes as no surprise given the active birding community in Ithaca. The county with the least effort was Schoharie with 93 hours, which is somewhat surprising given its proximity to Albany.
- Few blocks have met the block completion guidelines for adequate coverage. While a lot of blocks have a lot of species documented and at least 50% of species confirmed, many blocks lack 2 hours of nocturnal effort. This is likely a result of travel restrictions during the spring months due to the pandemic. Let’s finish those blocks off early in 2021!
- We did really well surveying our backyard birds (see figure). Thank you for continuing to atlas while following social distancing!
- Some species were complete misses, meaning they were not confirmed breeding in any block, including: Chuck-will’s-widow, Long-eared Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Philadelphia Vireo, Henslow’s Sparrow, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Kentucky Warbler.
The top 20 most commonly confirmed species in 2020. Also shown is the number of priority blocks in which each species was confirmed. We did really well covering our backyard birds!
- Some specialist species were overlooked in priority blocks, including Spruce Grouse, Common Nighthawk, Eastern Whip-poor-will, Upland Sandpiper, Black Vulture, Short-eared Owl, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Boreal Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Sedge Wren, Swainson’s Thrush, Bicknell’s Thrush, White-winged Crossbill, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, and Blackpoll Warbler.
- At least 8 species show a range expansion: Bald Eagle, Monk Parakeet, Forster’s Tern, Sandhill Crane, Trumpeter Swan, Caspian Tern, Ring-billed Gull, and Palm Warbler. These species have proportionally more breeding records in the first year of the Atlas than in either of the prior Atlases, whether you look at confirmations or total coded observations.