Volunteers must:
- Possess excellent bird identification skills by sight or by sound
- Capable of identifying the majority of songbird species that breed in Vermont forests
- Hike on variable terrain, often without trails, and navigating with GPS and/or map and compass.
The total time commitment is approximately 6-8 hours total during June. Because this is a long-term monitoring program, we are most interested in participants who can make a multi-year commitment to the project.
Take our Forest Bird ID Quiz to see If you’ve got what it takes to participate.
- Visit your site on two separate mornings in June and conduct five 10-minute point counts of birds along a predetermined route.
- Surveys begin at 5 am, so being functional before dawn is also a prerequisite! Each survey will take approximately two hours (including hiking to and from your vehicle and between points) and you can expect to spend another 1-1.5 hours to enter the data online before August 1st.
- Descriptions and maps of the study areas can be found here.
Looking for an easier challenge?
Consider VCE’s Mountain Birdwatch, which features a smaller suite of just 10 bird species and a simple protocol. Plus, in Mountain Birdwatch you’ll reach some of the region’s highest and most striking places.
Birders who can’t quite find the time for either project can still contribute valuable data on bird abundance and distribution. While birding (even casually) here in the Green Mountain State, add your sightings to Vermont eBird. Or if you’re outside of Vermont, you can send your sightings to the national eBird site (which includes Vermont data). Thank you!
