Data collection for the new Atlas of Birds of the Moscow Region is starting
"Birds of Moscow and Moscow Region" program coordinators invite ornithologists and birdwatchers to the new project on the Atlas of Birds of Moscow and the Moscow Region.
In the next 5 years, the region is to be fully surveyed for nesting birds, as wall as for migratory, wintering, and occasional birds.
Alike for the Atlas of the European part of Russia, the territory will be divided into squares, but smaller ones. If in European scale the squares were 50*50 km, then in this project 10*10 km.
The atlas will cover the period of 2014–2023, meaning it will include data collected in the previous 5 years and new data for the next five years.
For each species, status assessments will be done. For nesting birds those will include «possible», «likely» and «confirmed» nesting. The criteria for these categories determination can be found on the online system. For wintering species, species occurring only on migration species corresponding statuses are provided.
The abundance in squares will be estimated in gradations of the logarithmic scale (1-10, 11-100, 101-1000,> 1000). During the breeding season nominal nesting pairs are counted, and individuals in other seasons. Accordingly, for most breeding species, there should be two abundance estimates.
For those already signed up for the project, and for new participants:
- the minimum visits to the square that you chose in the breeding season include: once in April, twice in May and twice in June;
- in May and June, it is desirable to visit a variety of biotopes, including cities and towns.
Data will be collected primarily through the online bird registration system (in Russian).
If interested contact project coordinator Olga Voltzit voltzit @ rambler.ru