Breeding Bird Atlas 3 in Howard County

The Maryland & DC Breeding Bird Atlas 3 (MD-DC BBA3) is a comprehensive five-year survey of the birds breeding in Maryland and DC. The data used to produce maps showing the results of the survey will be collected almost entirely by volunteers.

Birds are good indicators of an ecosystem’s health because they are abundant, easy to observe, and respond to environmental changes relatively quickly. If suitable habitat is removed from an area, that bird can no longer nest there. The MD-DC BBA3 will expand on our current knowledge of the region’s breeding birds and contribute to their conservation and management.

Download the RichData Explorer or find it on the web to find satellite imagery overlaid by the atlas block grid. This information includes the block’s progress towards it’s completion targets, links to the species that are currently within safe dates, uncoded species that were observed in a past atlas or that have been coded in neighboring blocks, and the highest code for each of the block’s coded species.

Online help:

Forms

• Vehicle sign
• Information cards
• Landowner letters
• Volunteer forms

MERLIN Online Maps (Maryland DNR)

Land Ownership (using Maryland DNR MERLIN)

Nests

Safe observation

Tips

Dave Ziolkowski. (Dave is the Howard County Altas co-coordinator)

Jo Solem. (Jo Solem participated in the three previous Howard County Atlases)

Howard County History

• Maps (results for each species)
• Charts (results for each block)
• Breeding timeline (for all Maryland species)

Guide to Fledgling Sounds
by Dave Ziolkowski

Search for current results

MERLIN Bird ID (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Howard County BBA3 Primary Atlasers

County name in parentheses shows where the block was first assigned by the eBird centroid algorithmic method; later, responsibility for the block was assumed by Howard County.

Clarksville

NW – Helen Metzman
CW – David Holmes
SW – Anne Looker (Montgomery)
NE – Cheryl Farfaras
CE – Cheryl Farfaras
SE – Tim Ray

Damascus

NE – Mary Prowell
CE – Mary Prowell

Ellicott City

CW- Russ Ruffing
SW – Deborah Belchis
CE – Mary Maxey (Baltimore)
SE – Kurt Schwarz (Baltimore)

Laurel

 NW – Ken Clark

Relay

 NW – Dave Ziolkowski
CW – Vacant (AA)

Savage

NW – Clayton Koonce
CW – John McKitterick
SW – Kelsey Wellons
NE – Mary Lou Clark
CE – Megan Bolcar
SE – Peter Osenton (AA)

Sandy Spring

 NE – Mary Lou Clark

Sykesville

NW – Kristen Trouton
CW – Lisa Colangelo
SW – vacant
NE – Chuck Stirrat (Carroll)
CE – Ralph Cullison
SE – Robin Todd

Woodbine

NW – Kelly Vogelpohl
CW – Sue Muller
SW – Ken Clark
NE – David Smith (Carroll)
CE – Dave Sandler
SE – Bill Hill