BCN Survey Point Counts

BCN Survey Point Count Protocol

Who Can Participate?

Please only use this protocol if you are working directly with BCN, a county coordinator, or one of our partnering land managers such as a forest preserve district or park district. BCN Survey monitors should generally have at least three years of experience with identifying Illinois breeding birds by sight and sound. Birders who are not confident of their identification skills, but still wish to contribute, can apprentice with a more experienced birder by contacting us.

Survey Area

BCN Survey Point Counts are conducted in the Chicago Wilderness Region centered around Chicago, IL. Currently, we have active monitors in Cook Co., DeKalb Co., DuPage Co., Kane Co., Lake Co., McHenry Co., and Will Co. Illinois. Priority is centered on consistent coverage of existing point count locations, however coverage of new locations and new counties is welcomed as long as coverage can be sustained from year to year.

BCN Survey Goals

The goals of the BCN Survey are to:

Create a shared, standardized monitoring protocol throughout the Chicagoland area in order to aid in easier analysis of species trends and the impacts of land management throughout the region.
Assist land managers by helping recruit, train, and support bird monitors.
Monitor Species Trends in the Chicagoland area and establish regional lists of Birds of Concern.
Help land managers and stewards make informed decisions for restoration and birds.

Monitoring Season

Point counts should be conducted between June 1 and June 30. Visits should be conducted at least one week apart and ideally the first visit should be conducted in early June followed by a second visit about two weeks later. Exceptions: Monitors in DuPage Co. Forest Preserves conduct weekly visits during June and into July).

Time of Observation

Monitors are encouraged to start as close to sunrise as possible. During the month of June, sunrise ranges from 5:15 a.m. to 5:19 a.m. Surveys should be completed by 9:00 a.m. at the latest. Bird activity will drop off considerably as early as 7:00 a.m. or 7:30 a.m. on a warm day.

Point Name Format

Each point that you visit should be a separate location in eBird entered at the specific lat/long (GPS) coordinates for that point. Points should be named with the site name followed by point number abbreviated as: P# (e.g. Birdy Woods--P1). Ensure that your point name includes TWO hypehns followed by a capital "P" and the number of the point.

Duration of Observations

Each point should be monitored for 5 minutes. Exceptions: Lake Co. Forest Preserve points and Fermilab points are 10 minutes in length.

Radius of Observations

Stand at your point and record all species within a 75 meter radius of where you are standing.
Exceptions: Lake Co. Forest Preserve points and Fermilab points use a 100 meter radius. DuPage Co. Forest Preserve points use a 100 meter radius for prairie/grasslands and 50 meter radius for all other habitats.

Species to Record

Record all birds seen or heard within the radius of the point count. When submitting your data to eBird, for "Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you were able to identify?" choose "No" unless no additional birds were seen beyond the radius of your point count.

Entering Data in eBird

Starting in 2024, users will enter data in eBird using the new BCN Survey Point Count protocol. See the BCN eBird Changes page for details and screenshots. Any data recorded at your monitoring points outside of the breeding season should be entered using the standard Stationary protocol.

Want to Become a Monitor?

Contact Us to Learn More About the BCN Survey

Whether you are ready to start monitoring or want to inquire and learn more details about the BCN Survey, please fill out our Become a Monitor form and we will get in touch with you. Thanks in advance for working together with us to protect birds and their habitats.

Become a Monitor

History of the BCN Survey

Standardized, Coordinated Bird Monitoring in Chicagoland

BCN coordinated standardized monitoring that was implemented in a 1998 effort that transformed monitoring practices in the Chicagoland region.

The initiative was spearheaded by BCN members Judy Pollock, Alan Anderson, Terry Schilling, Lee Ramsey, and Elizabeth Sanders, with major participation from a group of dedicated birders, scientists, land managers and conservationists including Jerry Garden (Chicago Audubon Society), Jerry Sullivan (Cook County Forest Preserve District), Doug Stotz (Field Museum), Stephen Packard (Audubon - Chicago Region) and Dan Niven (Illinois Natural History Survey).

Prior to 1998, monitoring by citizen scientists had been active in the Chicago region since at least the 1980's, but a lack of standardized protocols and the daunting task of entering reams of data into digitized files meant that much of the information amassed over the past years remained inaccessible and difficult to analyze.

Online publication and quick analysis of our data became a reality in 2001 when Cornell Lab of Ornithology's BirdSource teamed up with BCN and the Field Museum to unveil a new website. This site came about thanks to the efforts of Debby Moskovits and Doug Stotz (Field Museum), Terry Schilling, Lee Ramsey, Alan Anderson and Suzanne Checchia (BCN volunteers), Steve Kelling and Michael Brutvan (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) and Judy Pollock, Rickie White and Steve Frankel (Audubon-Chicago Region).

Joining eBird in 2003, the BCN database moved to a special BCN version of the eBird website, a nationwide site for data entry managed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology & Audubon. This move provided us with easier access to data for research purposes and casual observations, and also allowed BCN monitors to easily enter their sightings at any of the predefined birding hotspots in the Chicagoland area.

Thank you to our many monitors, volunteers, and to eBird team for your many years of support for Chicagoland birds!

In addition to helping local land managers make informed decisions for birds, your monitoring efforts also contribute to the BCN Breeding Bird Trends.

BCN Breeding Bird Trends