History
The Breeding Bird Atlas concept originated in Great Britain in the late 1960's and culminated in a tremendous volunteer effort of more than 10,000 contributors who systematically surveyed and documented the breeding birds throughout Britain and Ireland. Other European nations, several African nations, Australia, and New Zealand quickly followed Great Britain with their own breeding bird atlas projects.
In 1971, the United States initiated its first breeding bird atlas in a single county in Maryland. Massachusetts was the first state to complete a state-wide effort, and today, approximately 40 atlas projects have been completed throughout North America. Six U.S. states and one Canadian province have recently completed or are collecting data for their second atlas effort, approximately 20 years after completion of their first atlas project.
Breeding Bird Atlases in Ohio
Under the direction of Dan Rice and Bruce Peterjohn, data collection for the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas began in 1982 and continued until 1987. The success of the first Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas can be attributed to over 500 volunteers who contributed over 30,000 hours of their time. The Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas was published in 1991 and provided a wealth of information about the occurrence and breeding distribution of bird species throughout the state. Twenty-three years after the start of the first Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas, Ohio started its second breeding bird atlas and was the 7th U.S. state to initiate a second atlas. Surveys began in 2006 and are planned to continue through 2010. The Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II is directed by Paul Rodewald (Ohio State University).