Information about Breeding Bird Surveys in Tennessee 1966–2008

During the first forty-three years (1966-2008) of the federal Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) program in Tennessee, 47 routes were established to monitor the breeding birds of the state.  Forty-two of these routes were established at the beginning of the program in 1966, while another five routes were added at various times from the late 1980s to  the mid-1990s.

   Four persons (at least) have served as Coordinator of BBSs in Tennessee since 1966: Joseph Howell, Katherine Goodpasture, Paul Hamel, and, for the past 15 years or so, Chuck Nicholson.

    After more than four decades of operation, the BBS program in Tennessee has produced data for at least 156 species of breeding birds (Table 1).  These account for the vast majority of species breeding in the state including all common species.  Three species of breeding birds that have occurred on BBS routes were not detected during Tennessee Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA) project (although the first of these was actually registered on a mini-route during the atlas project but was apparently "overlooked" when the atlas data were compiled): Northern Harrier, Eurasian Collared-Dove, and Pine Siskin.  Fifteen species of breeding birds found during the Tennessee BBA project were not registered on any BBS route in Tennessee 1966-2005: American Black Duck, Hooded Merganser, Anhinga, Least Bittern, King Rail, Virginia Rail, Sora, Purple Gallinule, Black-necked Stilt, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-cockaded Woodpecker (now extirpated), Olive-sided Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  At least 14 additional species have occurred as breeders in the state but were not detected during the atlas project or during any BBS route conducted 1966-2005: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Common Merganser (present as a breeder during the late 19th Century and again during the early 21st Century), Ring-necked Pheasant (introduced, but not successfully), Greater Prairie-Chicken (long since extirpated), American Bittern, American Swallow-tailed Kite, Golden Eagle, Black Rail, Bell's Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Magnolia Warbler, Henslow's Sparrow, Bobolink, and Western Meadowlark. A few additional breeding species, including Western Kingbird, have been documented since the mid-1990s.

Table 1. Species Registered on Breeding Bird Surveys Conducted in Tennessee 1966-2008.

    In the following table the 42 original Tennessee BBS routes and the 5 supplemental BBS routes are listed along with some data relating to each. Note that eleven of the state's BBS routes have been conducted during all years of the period 1966-2008. Five of the original routes have undergone major changes in the location of stops for those routes, usually as a result of road relocation or increased traffic along the original routes; the original routes are denoted below with the following symbol in the column for route number: #; the restructured routes are denoted below with the following symbol in the column for route number: ##.

   During the 1990s and 2000s several routes were not conducted for long periods of time, sometimes up to a decade; among these were Trenton (011), Indian Mound (014), Coryton Rd. (037), and Mt. Olive (040).  Note: in a few cases, BBSs listed below as not being conducted were, in fact, conducted, but the data have not yet been submitted or, if submitted, they have not yet been made publicly accessible by the BBS database managers.

Table 2. Data Relating to BBS Routes Conducted in Tennessee 1966-2008.

    In the following table some chronological data relating to the 42 original BBSs and the 5 supplemental BBSs conducted in Tennessee are presented.  Note that during the first two decades (1966-1985) of the BBS program in Tennessee all 42 original BBS routes were conducted during thirteen different years and that the total number of BBSs conducted per year fell below 40 only twice (including the year when the program was initiated).  However, also note that during the last 23 years (1986-2008) of the BBS program in Tennessee there was no year when all the available routes were conducted and that up to  twelve routes were not conducted in some years during that interval.

Table 3.  Number of BBS routes available to be conducted and number actually conducted annually in Tennessee 1966-2008.

    The birding community in Tennessee can do a better job of conducting BBS routes than it generally did during the period from 1986 to 2008. Some effort has been made to argue that coverage of about 75% of the Tennessee BBS routes per year is a laudable accomplishment, but, in case it escaped notice, 75% is usually considered to be a C (i.e., mediocrity or, at best, average); the Tennessee birding community can, and should, do better.

    Much of the information presented above is derived directly from data housed at the website of the BBS Program (administered by the U.S. Geological Service); in particular the part of the BBS website devoted to "Raw Data" was used extensively for data presented above.  Many thanks to all Tennessee birders and ornithologists who conducted BBS routes and contributed to this important database over the past four decades.  A link to the BBS website may be found at the page presenting all UCR BBS data for the period from 1998 to 2017. Another source of some data presented above is the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Tennessee (Nicholson 1997).

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