Information about Overlay Page

Species

Common name - The common name of a species is from the AOU list of common names (http://checklist.aou.org/ click on "Checklist CSV Export")

Scientific name - Genus and species from the AOU list.

Drop-down box - The drop-down box allows selection of species on the Minnesota list. This list of species is updated by MOURC (Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee) when a new species is reported in Minnesota and accepted. In front of the species name is a 4-character contraction of the species name. This can be used to rapidly access a specific species.

< and > - Buttons to move to the previous species and the next species.

Breeding Range in Minnesota

Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union Records - The records used to generate this map come from a variety of sources. The MOU has kept track of nesting species and has published this information in The Flicker and The Loon since 1929. This data is the result of observations from many volunteers. Many seasonal record compilers have worked on the MOU data during these years. Robert B. Janssen and Anthony X. Hertzel wrote a pamphlet called "Occasional Paper Number 2" that summarized nesting data of all species in the different counties of Minnesota. This has been a database for nesting records of birds in Minnesota. As additional records occurred, this database has been updated by the MOU Avian Information Committee. Starting in about 2003, MOU has been keeping all records of reported birds in a single database. These records are used to augment the data nesting data in the previous database.

Breeding Bird Atlas Records - The Breeding Bird Atlas project contributed a large number of records to the Avian database during the five years of the project from 2009 through 2013. Hundreds of volunteers and project partners contributed to the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas. Principle funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). Additional funding and in-kind donations were generously provided by Audubon Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota - Duluth, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

In addition to data contributions submitted by MOU volunteers, data was also provided by: Audubon Minnesota, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Golden-winged Warbler Working Group, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Hormel Nature Center, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, Midwest Peregrine Society, Minnesota Prairie Chicken Society, National Park Service, Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota – Duluth, The Nature Conservancy, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Forest Service, United States Geological Service, the University of Minnesota and the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic.

eBird Records - Cornell Lab of Ornithology has accumulated records since 2008. Since 2012 breeding records have been available to MOU from eBird.

Breeding Records - Records accepted by the summer seasonal report compilers (Ann E. Kessen, Peder H. Svingen, and Paul Budde). The position of the dots represent the reported location of the record.
For BBA records, the state has been divided into 9,774 quarter township size blocks. Each block has only one type of record, either observation, probable breeding, or confirmed breeding. The highest type of breeding is selected for each block, with confirmed breeding the highest priority.
If only the county is known, a dot is added at an appropriate location inside the county. The dots are partially transparent so if several dots occur in a similar location the dots are darker.

Historical Records - An open circle is displayed in the center of a county if there is a record of the bird breeding in a county, but no recent record of this confirmed breeding exists.

Confirmed Records - A transparent Green circle is displayed for each area that has confirmed breeding. If the precise location is known, the circle is displayed at that location. If only the county is known, the circle is displayed first in the center of the county and than at some other location in the county.

Probable Records - A smaller transparent Orange circle is displayed for each BBA area that has probable breeding (but not confirmed breeding.) If the precise location is known, the circle is displayed at that location. If only the county is known, the circle is displayed first in the center of the county and than at some other location in the county.

Summer Records - A smaller transparent Blue circle is displayed for each area that has a summer observation (but not confirmed or probable breeding.) If the precise location is known, the circle is displayed at that location. If only the county is known, the circle is displayed first in the center of the county and than at some other location in the county.

County Lines - The coordinates for county lines came from

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/data/vector/master/cnt_us.kmz

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/data/vector/master/st_us.kmz

Rivers - Hand drawn by Anthony X. Hertzel.

Lakes - Hand drawn by Anthony X. Hertzel.

Cities - The position of cities was done with the help of Google. Text was added by David A. Cahlander and Anthony X. Hertzel.

Ecological Regions - Hand drawn by Anthony X. Hertzel based on a map generated by EPA ftp://ftp.epa.gov/wed/ecoregions/mn/mn_map.pdf

National Forests - The MN-DNR’s Minnesota Geospatial Commons at https://gisdata.mn.gov/

State Forests - The MN-DNR’s Minnesota Geospatial Commons at https://gisdata.mn.gov/

SNA - The MN-DNR’s Minnesota Geospatial Commons at https://gisdata.mn.gov/

Wildlife Management Area - The MN-DNR’s Minnesota Geospatial Commons at https://gisdata.mn.gov/

Waterfowl Production Area - The MN-DNR’s Minnesota Geospatial Commons at https://gisdata.mn.gov/

Boundary Waters Canoe Area - From Friends of BWCA
http://www.friends-bwca.org/visit/bwcaw/google-earth/

Records (Casual and Accidental species)

Casual and accidental species are indicated by eithre a Red dot or a Blue dot. The Red dot indicates the actual location where the bird was reported. The Blue dot indicates the center of the county if the actual location is not available. David Cahlander and Anthony Hertzel went over all the reports of casual and accidental species to position the dots. David A. Cahlander generated the entire list of casual and accidental species reports by examining all of the issues of The Flicker and The Loon. References to the published information for each record is included in this list. Source for this list is Notes of Interest, Seasonal Reports, and MOURC proceedings.

Double-click on the Red or Blue dots to access The Loon or Flicker reference for the sighting.