Birds Checklists of the United States

This resource is known as Bird Checklists of the United States. Bird
Checklists of the United States. For years, people and groups have developed
listings or checklists of birds that occur in a particular region. Information
on the distribution or seasonal occurrence of birds in an area, however, can
change over time. Bird checklists often are outdated in only a few years after
printing, but budget and time constraints prohibit regular updates. The
Internet provides new opportunities for the compilation and dissemination of
current information on bird distribution. Here we offer bird checklists
developed by others that indicate the seasonal occurrence of birds in state,
federal, and private management areas, nature preserves, and other areas of
special interest in the United States.

Bird checklists exist for Great Plains States: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas,
Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming; East of Great Plains states: Alabama, Arkansas,
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin;
and West of Great Plains: Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah,
Washington.

It is hoped that these checklists will serve several purposes. First, we hope
the checklists will help bird enthusiasts decide where to visit. A visit to
these unique areas can be a rewarding experience for both the amateur and
expert birdwatcher. Second, we hope that these checklists will provide
potential visitors with a guide to birds that might occur in a region during a
particular season. The checklists were kept simple to facilitate printing so
they can be easily carried into the field. And third, we hope that these
checklists will stimulate and encourage visitors to these areas to help improve
the accuracy and completeness of the checklists. The information in some
checklists already has been updated; these checklists contain more current
information than the printed versions.

Sightings of birds and other wildlife are an important part of monitoring
wildlife use. Visitors are encouraged to share their observations of rare,
aberrant, or occasional birds with the staff at these areas. With each
checklist, we have included an address for visitors to send information on rare
birds so that checklists can be updated. To assist in establishing standards in
observation and reporting, we also provide a Record Documentation Form to
document supporting details of rare bird observations.

The efforts and dedication of the many birders, birding groups, biologists, and
resource managers who developed these checklists are acknowledged.

The information for this metadata was partially taken from the
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center website at
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/index.htm