January Program Meeting
Breeding Bird Surveys in Kansas, by Chuck Otte
The Breeding Bird Survey, coordinated by the US Geological Survey, is one of the longest running and most rigorously coordinated citizen science data collection program in the country. The BBS is a long-term, large-scale, international avian monitoring program initiated in 1966 to track the status and trends of North American bird populations. Over 4,000 routes have been created across the country and are ran yearly, between Memorial Day and 4th of July (in Kansas) by volunteers who rise well before dawn to spend over 4 hours documenting birds seen and heard. Otte will talk about the history of Breeding Bird Surveys, with specific discussion of Kansas routes, how the routes are conducted, and some of the amazing results to come out of the surveys, some good, some quite sad.
Chuck Otte is a native of York County, Nebraska, earning two degrees from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. A retired county extension agent for Kansas State University, he served as the agriculture, horticulture and natural resources extension agent for Geary County for over 40 years. A birdwatcher from his very early years, Chuck is heavily involved in Kansas Birding circles, probably being most well known for his quarter century efforts in maintaining checklists for all 105 Kansas counties. Chuck wears many hats in the birding community. He currently serves as Corresponding Secretary and Webmaster for the Kansas Ornithological Society (KOS), secretary of the Kansas Bird Records Committee, statewide eBird reviewer, and State Coordinator for the USGS Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). Chuck is a past president of KOS and served as it’s Newsletter Editor for a lengthy tenure. Chuck was one of the co-authors of Birds in Kansas. In retirement Chuck loves to garden and of course go birdwatching and maintain bird sighting records for the state. Chuck and his wife Jaye live on the farmstead near Milford where Jaye grew up.
NOTE: Our programs this year will be in the Cargill Learning Center at the Sedgwick County Zoo. We will also have dinner with our speaker before the program at Jason’s Deli, 7447 W 21st St N, at 5:30 pm.