NDFF Bird monitoring in agricultural areas

The Agricultural Species Monitoring Program (MAS) tracks breeding birds in agricultural areas. This type of area is the most common in the Netherlands and many of the species are strongly in decline. MAS does not take much time, but gathers important statistical data about occurrence and population development. Aims: Determining numbers and occurrence of more or less common farmland birds, in addition to other breeding bird counts (BMP). Agricultural areas contain grasslands, fields and small-scale landscapes. Which species? All species are counted. In practice, this means about 40 species. Method: Four counts per season, each taking 2x5 minutes. Counts take place in the periods: 1 to 20 April, 21 April to 10 May, 11 May to 10 June and 21 June to 15 July. All observations are noted on a map with a simplified breeding code, together with the observation period (first, second, or both 5-minute periods). Positive observations without zeros. Dataset available via https://www.ndff.nl/english / [e-mail] 19,875 records (March 2018) https://www.ndff.nl/overdendff/validatie/protocollen/14-208-meetnet-agrarische-soorten-mas/