Breeding Bird Atlases

From flight displays to fledglings, take your specialized bird ID skills to the next level by monitoring breeding birds.

Across Canada

A Cliff Swallow scooping up mud, a Killdeer dancing with a broken wing display, or a Horned Grebe carrying chicks on its back are all signs of breeding birds. When we track these behaviours, it provides a greater picture of how bird populations are faring, and helps with land use decisions, conservation efforts and more.

Breeding bird atlases are large-scale projects with the objective of mapping the distribution and abundance of breeding birds in a selected region, such as a province. They are typically conducted over a period of five years and repeated every 20 years in order to track changes in species ranges and abundance over decades. Atlases usually involve hundreds or even thousands of volunteers. When you head into nature to survey for birds and breeding evidence such as courtship displays, active bird nests, or newly-hatched young – you join a nation-wide community helping Canada’s birds.

Accessible Conservation Data - for Everyone

Breeding bird atlases offer a publicly accessible source of data that is open to all groups and individuals looking to learn more about where birds are and how they are doing in their region, and interested in making informed decisions regarding birds and the natural world. By contributing observations, you help build a bigger picture of where birds are in each province, what habitats they are using, and whether their populations are thriving, stable or declining. These insights help provide evidence for Species at Risk policy and recovery, steer informed habitat management, guide land-use planning, answer research questions like the effects of climate change on bird populations, and so much more!

Since the year 2000, breeding bird atlases have been completed in British Columbia, Manitoba, the Maritimes, Québec and Saskatchewan. Data and results for the third Ontario Atlas and the first Newfoundland Atlas will be published in the next couple of years, with both provinces completing their final year of data collection in 2025.

Explore Active Atlases with upcoming publications:

Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas

Data collection for the third Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas (Atlas-3) began in 2021 and came to completion at the end of 2025.
Atlas-3 is a partnership between the same five organizations as in the previous Ontario Atlas (Atlas-2): Birds Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment and Climate Change Canada), Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO), and Ontario Nature.
Over the course of the data collection period, Atlas-3 had 2,026 participants, 4,132,603 records, and 170,290 hours of survey effort!
The data and results of Atlas-3 will be published in late 2027 in both print and web formats.
Contact the Atlas Office at atlas@birdsontario.org

Download Ontario Atlas Data Learn More

©Yellow WarblerPhoto: Caroline Tanchioni

Newfoundland Breeding Bird Atlas

Data collection began in 2020 and continued through to the end of 2025. During this time, a small but dedicated force of 172 participants travelled on foot and by car, ATV, snowmobile, boat, helicopter, and float plane to collect almost 170,000 records for 193 bird species.
Newfoundland Atlas participants put in almost 15,000 hours of survey effort over the 6 years of data collection!
The Newfoundland Breeding Bird Atlas will be published online in late 2028.
The first Newfoundland Breeding Bird Atlas was a collaboration between Birds Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, with advisory support from the Newfoundland and Labrador Wildlife Division, Parks Canada, and Memorial University.
Contact the Atlas Office at nlatlas@birdscanada.org.