Pennsylvania’s third Bird Atlas takes flight

• By Isabella Weiss/WVIA

Birdwatchers are soaring into action to catalog bird populations across the state.

Pennsylvania’s third Bird Atlas started on Jan. 1. Over the next five years, birders will compile observations of migratory and breeding patterns to identify the state’s bird populations. The Pa. Game Commission wrote the first Atlas in the 80s, and they start a new one every 20 years. This time, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pa. is the Atlas’s headquarters.

WVIA News hiked Hawk Mountain with Amber Wiewel, Pa.’s Bird Atlas Coordinator, to learn more about the project. She’s heard a lot of positive feedback.

“Birders that participated in one or both of the previous two Atlases…are really excited to participate again. So, it’s a really nice mix of y’know, these experienced birders that have been in Pennsylvania and have been birding for years or decades, as well as new, up and coming birders that are just getting started in their birding journey,” said Wiewel.

Anyone can contribute to the Atlas, said Wiewel. All they need to do is download eBird, a free cataloging app. There’s a portal on the app birders can use to help atlasing efforts.

The Atlas focuses on breeding patterns. Even though the Atlas started only two weeks ago, Wiewel said birders are already sending in their data. Bald eagles, rock pigeons, and red crossbills can all be found nesting at this time of year. There are a few breeding signs people should look out for, said Wiewel.

“So, that might mean seeing a pair, such as two bald eagles – a male and female bald eagle – sitting together. Or maybe you find a nest. Or maybe you see a parent feeding young. Maybe you see a bird carrying nesting materials – all sorts of behaviors like this that are evidence of breeding, those are coded in eBird,” said Wiewel.

The eBird app allows birdwatchers to document the bird’s location and actions. The Atlas portal divides the state into 5,000 mapped-out blocks through GPS to report more accurate bird location data. Each block covers nine square miles, according to Wiewel.

Before any data is accepted into the atlas, county coordinators review birders’ submissions. While not a perfect way to catch mistakes, Wiewel said it helps check for accuracy.

“Anything that’s a little more unusual, like it’s a rare species for that area, or it’s maybe not the right time of year for that species to typically be found there – any sort of submission like that is flagged,” said Wiewel.

Coordinators will then get in touch with the birdwatcher to see if they can provide more information on where they saw the bird and what it looked like.

Wiewel said that birders’ findings prove the effects of climate change on local ecology.

Between the first and second Atlas, the state bird, the ruffed grouse, dwindled by 30 percent in Pennsylvania. And several insect-eating birds or cold weather lovers decreased as temperatures rose. However, some populations are growing, according to Wiewel.

“We’re certainly seeing northward expansions in bird populations,” said Wiewel. “This was already being seen during the second atlas in the early 2000s, and even prior to that. But, [we’re] seeing species that we’ve historically considered more kind of southeastern.”

While the Atlas has birders in every county, Wiewel hopes more people will get involved in rural areas. Most birders, she said, are from big cities like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, and mostly go birdwatching as populations fly south for winter.

“Every day during the migration season, there are counters at all these lookouts. And they’re counting every single bird that they can identify that flies over – a lot of raptors, but also they’ll see songbirds, they’ll count monarch butterflies,” said Wiewel. “And they’re really good at identifying things, even when they’re way up in the air, they’re little specks. They can tell based on the size and shape and how they’re beating their wings.”

Wiewel added that some birders can count thousands of birds at a time by identifying a group of the birds flying overhead and doing quick algebra to estimate the total number of birds.

For more information about the Atlas, go to their website at https://ebird.org/atlaspa/home. Starting Dec. 2024, they will run an additional Atlas to catalog resident birds during the winter season.