Data Owner:

Cerulean Warbler Technical Group

Golden-winged Warbler Working Group

Data Access: Level 5

Abstract

Priority Migrant eBird is a project developed by the Cerulean Warbler Technical Group, the Golden-winged Warbler Working Group, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. Priority Migrant eBird collects distribution and abundance data for five birds that migrate or winter in Central and South America. Detailed data on non-breeding distributions are needed to generate effective rangewide conservation strategies for long-distance migratory species that have experienced recent precipitous population declines. The five species are Cerulean, Golden-winged, Blue-winged, and Canada warblers, as well as Olive-sided Flycatchers!

Priority Migrant eBird is one of several regional eBird portals that exist (aVerAves, Vermont eBird, Mass Audubon eBird, Texas eBird, Bird Conservation Network eBird, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory eBird etc.). Each contributes to the cumulative eBird database.

Purpose

The goal of Priority Migrant eBird is to collect the non-breeding season distribution information needed to generate effective rangewide conservation strategies for long-distance migratory species that have experienced precipitous population declines over the last few decades.

Supplemental Information

The project was initially conceived by the international committees of the Golden-winged Warbler Working Group (Alianza Alas Doradas) and the Cerulean Warbler Technical Group (El Grupo Cerúleo) as a tool for addressing the lack of information on non-breeding season distributions for these two species in Central and northern South America. In order to maximize the number of contributors among the banding, conservation, research, education, and birding communities, and to minimize the effort needed to contribute records, these groups decided to use the power of eBird to facilitate data entry and to produce exciting output products that will be able to track the dynamic distributions of high priority species.

eBird data are stored in a secure facility and archived daily, and are accessible to anyone via the eBird web site and other applications developed by the global biodiversity information community. For example, eBird data are part of the Avian Knowledge Network (AKN), which integrates observational data on bird populations across the western hemisphere. In turn, the AKN feeds eBird data to international biodiversity data systems, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). In this way any contribution made to eBird increases our understanding of the distribution, richness, and uniqueness of the biodiversity of our planet.

Contact

• Sara Barker: sb65@cornell.edu