Greg D. Jackson, Chair
Members: Bob Duncan, Geoff Hill, Steve McConnell, Eric Soehren, Bill Summerour
The Censusing Committee purview covers any project sponsored by the Alabama Ornithological Society to catalogue wild bird species and individuals in Alabama.
Currently, the major ongoing project is the Summer Bird Count. This is performed in a designated two-week period each June in a single county (or portion of a county) in up to three regions of the state. Data collected in this project include quantitative counts of individuals and evidence of breeding.
The most significant past work under the auspices of the committee was the intensive Breeding Bird Atlas done throughout Alabama 2000-2006. This laborious project mapped bird distribution in the nesting season, with indication of probability of breeding when found. The Summer Bird Counts performed during this period supplemented the effort.
Though not sponsored by AOS, several other projects in the AOS area are staffed to a large degree by members and data generated are catalogued and archived by the Society’s bird records compilers in Alabama and Northwest Florida. These long-standing efforts include the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Breeding Bird Survey, and the recurring migration counts in the areas of Birmingham and Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.
Future efforts might include additional migration counts and repetition of the Breeding Bird Atlas project.