State of the Birds Report 2009: Powered by Citizen Science

Bird watchers contributed to the nation’s first State of the Birds report On March 19, 2009, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and partners released the first-ever comprehensive State of the Birds report for the United States. From arctic and aridlands to oceans and forests, the report summarizes the state of our nation’s birds—indicators of the health of our environment.

The report analyzed four decades of data from citizen-science participants, primarily from the Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey. At a press conference announcing the report, Lab director John Fitzpatrick discussed the importance of this concerted monitoring, concluding, “Citizen science rocks!”

To see the full report and a video summarizing its conclusions, please visit www.stateofthebirds.org.

Originally published in the April 2009 issue of BirdScope.