As Georgia's population increases, there has been a significant effort to preserve greenspaces within rapidly urbanizing landscapes. These greenspaces are justified for a number of reasons, ranging from improving water and air quality, to providing recreational opportunities, and protecting wildlife habitat. While small forested patches within an urban landscape probably do not provide quality nesting habitat for many bird species, they may offer valuable wintering habitat and stopover sites for birds to rest and refuel during spring and fall migration.

This Greenspace Bird Survey attempts to document how birds use urban greenspaces throughout the year and what components of urban greenspaces are most important for these birds. We will be measuring greenspace size, landscape context, and local habitat variables as well as bird species and numbers found throughout the year.

We are hoping to recruit birders to visit local greenspaces and record what they find. These surveys shouldn't involve much more than birders are already doing. For the purposes of this study, greenspaces are discrete natural areas, generally set aside as parks, riverside greenways, or forests that are surrounded by developed land.

If you are interested in participating, please copy the two data sheets. The Greenspace Site Data Sheet (requires Adobe Acrobat) only needs to be filled out once. This sheet helps to describe the location, size, and habitat characteristics of the greenspace, as well as determining whether several invasive exotic plants are present. The Greenspace Bird Survey Form (requires Adobe Acrobat) is to be filled out with each visit to the area.

Please address any questions to Tim Keyes (tim_keyes@dnr.state.ga.us or 478-994-1438).