Announcing a New Book from the Seattle Audubon Society
BREEDING BIRDS OF WASHINGTON STATE

The results of the Washington Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA) have just been
published by the Seattle Audubon Society. Founded by Phil Mattocks in 1987
and directed by him through its final season in 1996, the ten-year project
brings together breeding evidence for over 260 species of birds known to
nest in our state. More than 600 volunteers spent tens of thousands of
hours in the field, accumulating over 100,000 data points.

Dividing the state into a grid of atlas blocks each three miles on a side,
atlasers collected evidence for breeding at three different levels:
POssible, PRobable, and COnfirmed. For example, an individual of a
particular species present in suitable habitat during the breeding season
was rated as PO. If a pair was observed, or seven or more males heard
singing, or other signs were found that territory had been established,
then the species was rated PR. Direct evidence of attempted or successful
nesting raised a species to CO status.

Several years into the atlasing effort - recognizing that it would be
impossible to survey more than a sample of the state's 7,900 atlas blocks
with the limited resources available - Mattocks and the BBA joined forces
with the Washington Gap Analysis project. Gap, supported by federal and
state funding, has as its mission the mapping of the breeding distribution
of terrestrial vertebrates in relation to land cover (natural vegetation,
agriculture, development, etc.), with the goal of identifying critical
habitats so they can be protected while populations of the species they
support are still relatively healthy.

It was a win-win alliance. Study of the actual distribution patterns
revealed by BBA records allowed the Gap team to refine their predicted
distribution models. In turn, Gap's sophisticated land cover mapping,
derived from satellite data, permitted breeding ranges to be extrapolated
into areas of suitable habitat thinly sampled by BBA observers.

In the published volume, symbols indicating the BBA data points are
superimposed onto individual species maps with the predicted breeding
distribution shaded in. Thus it is possible to see at a glance on which
atlas blocks a species was detected by BBA observers and at what evidence
level (PO, PR, CO), as well as its generalized range in the breeding season
as modeled from Gap projections. Each of the 244 full-page species maps is
accompanied by a detailed account on the facing page, explaining the
habitat associations that were used to create the modeled distribution and
offering commentary on status, records from sources other than the BBA, and
references to pertinent literature. An additional 18 species of limited or
sporadic occurrence in the state receive accounts but no maps.

Breeding Birds of Washington State is authored by Michael R. Smith, Philip
W. Mattocks, Jr., and Kelly M. Cassidy, with input from numerous amateur
and professional field ornithologists from across the state who reviewed
maps and species accounts and shared their personal records and expertise.
The first completed volume of the Washington Gap Analysis, it will soon be
joined by four others on mammals, amphibians/reptiles, land cover, and
conservation priorities. Cassidy is senior editor for the series.

The book may be obtained from your bookseller, or directly from the Seattle
Audubon Society Nature Shop, 8050 35th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98115, phone
(206) 523-4483. Retail price is $30.00 plus 8.6% Washington State sales
tax. Mail or phone orders welcome (add $3.00 for shipping and handling; no
sales tax for orders shipped out of state). Checks or Mastercard/Visa
accepted; no purchase orders. The edition is limited to 1,000 copies,
several hundred of which are destined for agency distribution, and will
likely sell out fast.

Seattle Audubon Society - September 22, 1997 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE