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Breeding Bird Survey routes in Canada

The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is a continental roadside survey that relies on volunteer participation. There are about 1,000 BBS routes in Canada. Each roughly 40-km long route is made up of 50 stops where experienced observers identify and count all birds seen or heard in a 3-minute period. Once all 50 stops have been surveyed, the route is considered complete, or “run”. Roughly half of the BBS routes in Canada are run each year. Increasing the number of routes run in Canada is one of the best ways to improve the BBS.

Map of all active Breeding Bird Survey routes in Canada

See long description below
Figure 1. Map of Canada showing all active Breeding Bird Survey routes.
Long description

This map shows all active Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes in Canada. There are BBS routes in all provinces and territories, though most are in the southern half of Canada.

Number of Breeding Bird Survey routes run across Canada from 1966 to 2019

Graph showing Number of Breeding Bird Survey Routs Run Per Year in Canada from 1966 to 2017. See long description below
Figure 2. Graph showing the number of Breeding Bird Survey routes completed by observers each year in Canada from 1966 to 2019.
Long description

This graph shows the total number of Breeding Bird Survey routes completed each year from the survey's inception in 1966 to 2019. The number has increased from 34 in 1966 to 601 in 2019. The yearly totals are also available in the "Canada" column in the table below.

Number of Breeding Bird Survey routes run each year, broken down by province or territory (1966 to 2019)

Table 1: Number of Breeding Bird Survey routes run each year, broken down by province or territory from 1966 to 2019
Year AB BC NT MB NB NL NU NS ON PE QC SK YT Canada
2019 85 70 8 51 20 28 None 25 144 3 98 34 35 601
2018 89 70 11 52 25 32 None 30 143 3 98 41 34 628
2017 96 77 6 58 23 31 1 30 130 2 92 41 34 621
2016 98 79 8 65 24 26 1 32 136 4 78 38 30 619
2015 88 81 10 63 26 23 1 27 143 4 88 39 21 614
2014 84 68 9 32 17 24 1 24 135 4 80 31 24 533
2013 90 56 11 35 20 18 1 21 136 4 86 27 14 519
2012 92 66 9 48 20 25 1 22 126 3 81 28 15 536
2011 95 64 7 45 26 34 1 21 128 3 79 27 17 547
2010 97 76 3 54 17 20 1 21 127 3 68 26 20 533
2009 101 67 6 61 19 19 1 19 117 2 61 28 11 512
2008 103 72 8 61 19 21 None 20 100 2 66 29 11 512
2007 98 73 9 61 23 20 None 21 102 4 73 22 14 520
2006 84 72 3 52 20 15 None 21 109 4 73 34 18 505
2005 90 75 6 39 19 14 1 21 78 1 61 34 21 460
2004 82 78 7 36 22 14 1 21 80 3 53 32 21 450
2003 84 74 4 43 17 14 None 14 82 3 52 36 12 435
2002 82 81 5 48 22 8 1 23 77 3 47 35 12 444
2001 97 75 6 45 23 9 1 27 89 3 53 45 12 485
2000 90 72 5 47 22 5 None 27 86 3 58 38 17 470
1999 84 69 5 38 18 8 None 29 90 3 57 34 12 447
1998 87 63 4 45 16 7 None 27 83 2 58 33 13 438
1997 83 60 2 46 17 6 4 28 84 2 62 31 14 439
1996 94 60 1 43 16 3 None 24 92 2 58 33 13 439
1995 91 68 1 41 15 8 None 23 92 2 60 27 15 443
1994 82 60 None 31 13 2 None 17 88 2 46 28 17 386
1993 66 55 2 31 15 3 None 15 66 4 47 30 15 349
1992 68 42 6 29 12 1 None 14 68 3 36 30 15 324
1991 48 50 5 33 16 2 None 13 54 2 38 28 13 302
1990 46 44 6 31 12 1 None 12 47 2 42 27 7 277
1989 40 41 6 30 13 1 None 12 48 2 26 26 9 254
1988 31 36 2 12 14 1 None 12 49 2 27 16 7 209
1987 32 31 1 17 18 4 None 13 49 2 24 22 10 223
1986 23 33 None 17 13 3 None 11 48 4 24 14 9 199
1985 30 36 None 13 15 2 None 12 44 4 29 17 None 202
1984 24 36 None 15 16 24 None 12 49 4 32 14 None 226
1983 26 32 None 15 15 23 None 11 53 4 34 21 None 234
1982 26 36 None 16 15 21 None 15 58 4 38 21 2 252
1981 38 38 None 18 19 14 None 16 56 3 40 20 None 262
1980 32 35 None 18 16 12 None 18 61 3 40 22 2 259
1979 27 35 None 18 17 1 None 18 54 3 41 23 None 237
1978 27 34 None 16 19 3 None 17 57 4 35 18 None 230
1977 22 34 None 17 19 2 None 19 63 4 20 21 None 221
1976 29 42 None 13 18 4 None 14 65 2 21 20 7 235
1975 32 50 None 13 16 6 None 17 60 3 24 20 5 246
1974 31 52 None 14 21 4 None 19 57 4 21 19 7 249
1973 37 36 None 12 22 2 None 20 54 4 24 28 5 244
1972 27 9 None 14 24 None None 23 48 2 27 20 1 195
1971 17 12 None 11 24 None None 21 53 2 25 13 None 178
1970 11 17 None 11 23 None None 20 46 3 33 10 None 174
1969 8 13 None 12 23 None None 20 40 4 20 6 None 146
1968 5 15 None 13 22 None None 20 40 4 15 3 None 137
1967 None None None 9 19 None None 20 3 4 9 None None 64
1966 None None None None 15 None None 14 None 2 3 None None 34
Total 3,149 2,720 182 1,708 1,010 568 17 1,063 4,187 162 2,581 1,360 591 19,298

Data source: V.I. Aponte (CWS)

Download the MS Excel version of this table [XLS - 13 KB]

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