Concern for the status of the wildlife resources of an area makes it incumbent upon citizens to monitor the populations of all forms of fauna and flora in their area on a regular basis using a standard protocol to acquire data. In 1991 Stephen J. Stedman and Barbara H. Stedman initiated the Winterer Roadside Survey (and its summer counterpart, the Summer Roadside Survey) to monitor bird populations in Putnam County, Tennessee. They adapted the protocol of Partners in Flight (an umbrella organization dedicated to maintaining healthy populations of birds in the Americas) to conduct this survey, and they continued this survey in 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011. The resulting data for 100 species may be accessed via links near the bottom of this page.
For an overview of the methodology used by Stephen J. Stedman and Barbara H. Stedman to collect roadside data about the birds of Putnam County, click on this item:
The regions of the county covered by the WRS/SRS are noted in the following table and depicted in a map accessible via the following link:
Table 1. Regions of Putnam County in relation to elevation and number of WRS stops.
| Region | Elevation | Number of WRS Stops in Region |
| CB—Central Basin | 500–700 feet | 50 Stops (10% of total) |
| WE—Western Escarpment | 700–900 feet | 50 Stops (10% of total) |
| HR—Highland Rim | 900–1200 feet | 250 Stops (50% of total) |
| EE—Eastern Escarpment | 1200–1800 feet | 50 Stops (10% of total) |
| CP—Cumberland Plateau | 1600–2100 feet | 100 Stops (20% of total) |
The WRSs conducted during January 2006 and 2011 were quite productive, partly as a result of fairly mild weather during the former winter and partly as a result of excellent crops of hard and soft mast during each of these winters. Data from those two WRSs, when compared with data from previous WRSs, indicate a considerably more diverse avian community in the county, especially in its eastern and central sections, during those winters than during the previous three winters sampled by the WRS, as indicated by data in the following table.
Table 2. Total Species Registered during 500-Stop Winter Roadside Surveys in Putnam County during 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011.
| Year | CB | WE | HR | EE | CP | County |
| 1991 | 42 | 35 | 67 | 27 | 47 | 72 |
| 1996 | 46 | 34 | 68 | 30 | 47 | 71 |
| 2001 | 41 | 34 | 68 | 38 | 49 | 72 |
| 2006 | 46 | 33 | 78 | 47 | 63 | 85 |
| 2011 | 50 | 34 | 76 | 39 | 72 | 85 |
To view detailed results of the WRS in Putnam County for any of the 100 species registered during the five surveys conducted, click on one of the links below:
Table 3. Age and Sex Data for Diurnal Raptors Recorded during January 2006 on 500-Stop Winter Roadside Survey in Putnam County, Tennessee.
|
Species |
Adult | Immature | Unknown | Male | Female | Unknown |
Total |
| Northern Harrier | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | -- | -- | 1 | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 4 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | 4 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 27 | 0 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | 35 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 25 | 1 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | 32 |
| American Kestrel | -- | -- | -- | 8 | 16 | 15 | 39 |
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