Initiated in 1989, the Vermont Forest Bird Monitoring Program (FBMP) is an effort to track long-term changes in populations of interior forest songbirds. As of 2005, monitoring sites have been established at 29 mature forest tracts representing 9 different forest communities across Vermont and New Hampshire.

Each study site consists of a series of five sampling points spaced approximately 200 meters apart. During the height of breeding activities in June, each site is visited twice by a volunteer or a VINS staff biologist skilled in visual and aural bird identification. At each survey point all the birds seen and heard are recorded. As one of the only projects in the Northeast that collects habitat-specific data across a broad range of forest types, the FBMP provides critical baseline data with which to monitor future population changes.

For more information, contact:
Steve Faccio
Vermont Institute of Natural Science
6565 Woodstock Rd.
PO Box 1281
Quechee, VT 05059
802-359-5000 info@vinsweb.org

Detailed Project Summary

2007 Trend Analysis - Short-distance Migrants Decline (pdf, 116 kb) NEW!!!

Volunteers Needed for National Park Bird Surveys NEW!!!

Enter Survey Results NEW!!!

Download Survey Materials click here

Newsletters

Forest Bird Notes -- the occasional publication of the FBMP -- summarizes results from the previous field season, updates project volunteers on news and other developments, and provides a forum for discussions about a variety of topics and issues related to birds and bird monitoring.

Spring 2004 (pdf, 175kb)

Spring 2005 (pdf, 266kb)

Field Notes -- the newsletter of the VINS Conservation Biology Department

Field Notes Winter 2007 (PDF 450KB)

Field Notes Summer 2006 (PDF 1MB)

Field Notes Winter 2005-2006 (PDF 1MB)

Publications and Reports

Faccio, S.D. 2003. Effects of ice storm-created gaps on forest breeding bird populations in Central Vermont. Forest Ecology and Management 186:133-145.
Abstract only , Full Document (.pdf 383 kb)

Faccio, S.D., and C.C. Rimmer. 1999. High rates of Brown-headed Cowbird occurrence in Champlain Valley forests: Conservation implications for migratory songbirds. In: Manley, T.O. and P.L. Manley, editors. Lake Champlain in Transition: From Research Toward Restoration. American Geophysical Union, Washington D.C., pp 361-370.

Faccio, S.D., and C.C. Rimmer. 1999. Forest bird surveys on Mount Mansfield and Underhill State Park. Annual report to the Vermont Monitoring Cooperative.

Faccio, S.D., C. C. Rimmer, and K.P. McFarland. 1998. Results of the Vermont Forest Bird Monitoring Program, 1989-96. Northeastern Naturalist 5(4): 293-312.

Faccio, S.D., C.C. Rimmer, and K.P. McFarland. 1997. Monitoring Vermont's forest birds: Results of the Forest Bird Monitoring Program, 1989-1996. Unpublished report, Vermont Institute of Natural Science.

Project Partners