Point Counts in West Virginia
| The following information was provided by Donna Mitchell of WV DNR to describe the point count program in West Virginia. This program is an excellent way for people with solid birding skills (able to identify all the breeding birds of WV by sight and sound) to put those skills to good use, producing valuable data that will influence decisions related to wildlife management and conservation. DNR biologists set up each walking route, and then every route has a volunteer that will spend one morning each year in early June to record all the species they hear or observe at designated points along their route (most routes take about four hours). Contact Donna, or Rob Tallman, at DNR's Elkins' office (304-637-0245) if you would like more information or if you would like to volunteer. Routes are available, or new ones can be set up, in all parts of West Virginia. A point count survey route (PCS) consists of a set of points along a transect, trail, or road where all species of birds, as well as the number of individuals of that species, are recorded for a set amount of time and within a set distance. This is very similar to a Breeding Bird Survey route except the count time is usually 5 to 10 minutes long as opposed to 3 minutes and the routes are usually not along roads. There are several reasons for establishing a PCS route. Estimating species trends, evaluating bird/habitat associations, identifying the avifauna of a particular plot of land, or documenting population responses to habitat manipulation, are the most common reasons for doing point count surveys. Point count surveys have been conducted for a number of years by individual researchers across the country. The counts in WV began in the Gauley district of the Monongahela National Forest in 1993. The WV DNR Wildlife Diversity Program began compiling the point count data in WV in 1998. This program has expanded to cover all regions of the state, varying habitats, and targeted bird species. Various researchers have used the data that has been gathered in the state. Habitat and spatial information has been used in regards to cerulean warblers, golden winged and magnolia warblers and yellow-shafted flickers. Species lists have been compiled for the wildlife management areas for 3viewing on the upcoming WV birding web site. One study is dealing with the effects the hemlock wooly adelgid is having on the avifauna. Within a few more years of data gathering, species trends will start to become evident. |