Birds Survey - a Great Method to Know Population Size of the Birds - By: Lisaa marie

Usually, bird surveys are undertaken to estimate the population of the birds. Apart from these there are number of reasons that can be the driving forces to undertake birds survey. Following are some of the reasons:

(1) Being the owner of any nature reserve, there may be the need to know the population of the birds
(2) A need to have baseline information for an area or species which not very well known
(3) In order to carry out an analysis if the proposed development is an impediment to the natural land

Full justice to bird surveys can be executed by professional environmental engineers who can use various methodologies such as Common Bird Census (CBC) and Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and Wetland Bird Survey. All these surveys basically answer the following questions:

(1) Which types of species are there?
(2) How many of them live there?
(3) Is there any change in numbers of species?

Talking about one of the major techniques of birds survey used in U.K. - the common birds census - it was a volunteer fieldwork project initiated by British Trust of Ornithology during almost forty years between 1962 and 2000. The project was funded by Joint Nature Conservation Committee and its main task was to monitor trends in the UK populations of common breeding birds. However, this major function is now passed to the BTO/RSPB/JNCC Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). CBC basically aimed at intense data-collection strategy which was based on mapping territories of breeding birds. This method was a great success and resulted in immensely beneficial data allowing the national population trends to be assessed. The information obtained from such survey reveals the population sizes of individual species and how those sizes can be used to decide the priorities in terms of conservation efforts. Such information then sets the efforts of conservation in the right direction. Also, the smaller the population size, the greater the chances are of its extinction locally, regionally and globally. Also, such bird surveys can be useful as they guide the environmental engineers in terms of what is the population of the birds in relation to different habitats, and thereby allow them to assess habitat associations.

The Breeding Birds Survey is an annual survey and a very simple technique that does not require environmental engineers to walk the total survey area. The walk of selected 1-km is enough and therefore it is ideal for huge terrains. Once the data is collected by the ecologists, it is analyzed by a specialist statistician. It is ideal to use specialist distance software to calculate densities and population sizes. It is advised that this method of birds survey should start between 6 and 7 a.m. and not later than 9 a.m. The survey requires three visits - one is April to establish the terrain route and map the presence of the inhabitants, second and third visits would be in May and June with an aim to collect the survey data. Each visit involves the slow walk on the first selected terrain and all the birds seen along the route are noted in ratio of per 200 meters length of the terrain. Also, the survey calls for noting the birds’ relative distance from the terrain.

About the Author

Lisa Marie is heading a team of skilled environmental engineers and advises clients in carrying out birds survey.

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