Find out more about the people and organizations managing this ambitious project.
A new phase for the Atlas
With the completion of fieldwork for southern Québec (2010-2014), the Atlas project has reached an important milestone, and we would like to send our sincere thanks to the 2000 participants who between them devoted more than 100 000 hours to data collection.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that all data collection is finished, as fieldwork for the region north of 50°30' N will continue for several years to come!
In parallel, the Atlas Team will be concentrating on the publication of the results for southern Québec. We will keep you regularly informed about the progress of this part of the project, which aims to analyze and publish the data acquired between 2010 and 2014, including a comparison with the results obtained during the first Atlas.
Those of you who wish to participate in the northern component of the Atlas should, in addition to regularly visiting this website, subscribe to our mailing list to receive our newsletters. To help with planning and to avoid overlap, we would like hear from any experienced and independent birdwatchers who are intending to visit northern Québec to collect data for the Atlas.
For your information, we will be adding sections to this website containing a variety of information about the northern part of the project. However, in the meantime, you can find a range of basic information on the Northern Québec page.
The Atlas Team
Project updates
24 May 2018. Here is a great piece news: towards the end of the summer there will be a pre-sale of the Second Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Southern Québec. We strongly encourage anyone interested in purchasing the book in advance, to subscribe (unless it is already done) to the Atlas mailing list by clicking here. If you provided at least one mention of a breeding bird for the Atlas, it is particularly important to make sure that your name (and that of your assistants) is on the list of participants drawn up by the Atlas Office, and that the spelling is correct (click here to see the list). If this is not the case, please contact us immediately.
There is often still snow on the ground when the American Woodcock returns from its wintering area. Upon arrival, males establish territories in relatively open areas, often old abandoned fields. The courtship display is unique, with the male flying up in a spiral, producing a whistling sound by means of the three outer primaries of its wings, which are stiff and narrow. Back on the ground, he emits a loud and nasal "peent". After mating, the female builds a rudimentary nest on the ground, which is located in a dry area, near the edge of a wood. The young are highly precocial, remaining in the nest for less than 24 hours. In southern Québec, woodcocks nest mainly in the lowlands, where richer soils provide an abundance of earthworms, the stable food of this species. These prey items are much rarer in the acidic soils of the boreal forest, where the American Woodcock is uncommon. The feeding habits of this species are favoured by its strange facial appearance: its eyes are set so far back on its head—to the point of being located behind its ears—that they are unlikely to come into contact with the ground (adapted from Gauthier and Aubry 1996).
TOP 10 CONTRIBUTORS
List of participants who contributed the most to data collection. For a complete list, click here.
Participant
Total
GET INVOLVED
The Québec Breeding Bird Atlas project is open to birdwatchers of all skill levels, and we strongly encourage you
to get involved. The aim of participants of the Atlas is to find breeding evidence for as many bird species as possible within each 100 km2 survey square.
Black-and-white Warbler photo by Simon Pierre Barrette.
