David Ziolkowski Jr.
Biography
Dave is a Wildlife Biologist at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center where he serves as the program ornithologist for the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). He has been actively involved in wildlife research for over 30 years, both in the U.S. and abroad, and has worked on myriad topics spanning the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology, biogeography, toxicology, and population monitoring. He works to strengthen coordination and management of the scientifically rigorous, citizen-science based BBS, including building research and multi-level inter-agency partnerships, strategic planning, project management of web-enabled database applications, and quality engagement with thousands of highly-skilled volunteer observers. He has an MSc in Biology (2003) from University of Missouri, St. Louis and a BS in Biology from Towson University. (Last updated Oct, 2019)
Science and Products
Spatio-Temporal Statistical Models for Forecasting Climate Change Effects on Bird Distribution
Ecological indicators of climate change are needed to measure concurrent changes in ecological systems, inform management decisions, and forecast the consequences of climate change. We seek to develop robust bird-based, climate-change indicators using North American Breeding Bird Survey data.
Breeding Birds
Patuxent science expands our understanding of the ecological relationships between breeding bird communities and their habitats. For example, Patuxent scientists follow structured decision-making principles to optimize the management of fresh-water and salt-marsh habitats to benefit wetland bird communities. Following pioneering studies documenting the effects of forest fragmentation on...
Comprehensive 1966 - 2017 Results! North American Breeding Bird Survey
The North American Breeding Bird Survey program (BBS) provides critical science-based population data for more than 400 bird species to improve our understanding of how these federally entrusted species respond to environmental variability and ecosystem change. The BBS generates results that inform Federal wildlife managers in the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service,...
The North American Breeding Bird Survey: Refining Scale to Provide New Insights
The Challenge: Since 1966, the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) has filled a vital role in identifying at-risk bird species for Federal, State, and private entities. The BBS is a scientifically rigorous population count performed by a highly skilled, largely volunteer work force of nearly 2,500 observers. Every year these observers visit most of the survey’s 4,500 routes, which...
North American Breeding Bird Survey Dataset
The North American Breeding Bird Survey dataset contains avian point count data for more than 700 North American bird taxa (species, races, and unidentified species groupings). These data are collected annually during the breeding season, primarily June, along thousands of randomly established roadside survey routes in the United States and Canada.
Estimating spatially and temporally complex range dynamics when detection is imperfect
Species distributions are determined by the interaction of multiple biotic and abiotic factors, which produces complex spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence. As habitats and climate change due to anthropogenic activities, there is a need to develop species distribution models that can quantify these complex range dynamics. In this paper, we...
Rushing, Clark S.; Royle, J. Andrew; Ziolkowski, David; Pardieck, Keith L. Consistency counts: Modeling the effects of a change in protocol on Breeding Bird Survey counts
Analysis of North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data requires controls for factors that influence detectability of birds along survey routes. Identifying factors that influence the counting process and incorporating them into analyses is a primary means of limiting bias in estimates of population change. Twedt (2015) implemented an...
Sauer, John R.; Link, William A.; Ziolkowski, David; Pardieck, Keith L.; Twedt, Daniel J. How well do route survey areas represent landscapes at larger spatial extents? An analysis of land cover composition along Breeding Bird Survey routes
The occurrence of birds in a survey unit is partly determined by the habitat present. Moreover, some bird species preferentially avoid some land cover types and are attracted to others. As such, land cover composition within the 400 m survey areas along a Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) route clearly influences the species available to be detected....
Veech, Joseph A.; Pardieck, Keith L.; Ziolkowski, David The first 50 years of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
The vision of Chandler (Chan) S. Robbins for a continental-scale omnibus survey of breeding birds led to the development of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). Chan was uniquely suited to develop the BBS. His position as a government scientist had given him experience with designing and implementing continental-scale surveys, his...
Sauer, John R.; Ziolkowski, David; Pardieck, Keith L.; Smith, Adam C.; Hudson, Marie-Anne R.; Rodriguez, Vicente; Berlanga, Humberto; Niven, Daniel; Link, William A. Expanding the North American Breeding Bird Survey analysis to include additional species and regions
The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) contains data for >700 bird species, but analyses often focus on a core group of ∼420 species. We analyzed data for 122 species of North American birds for which data exist in the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) database but are not routinely analyzed on the BBS Summary and Analysis...
Sauer, John R.; Niven, Daniel; Pardieck, Keith L.; Ziolkowski, David; Link, William A. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, results and analysis 1966 - 2015
This website presents population change information for more than 400 species of North American birds, as estimated from the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Estimates of trend (interval-specific estimates of population change), annual indices of abundance, and maps of abundance and population change for these species are presented for a...
Sauer, John; Niven, Daniel; Hines, James; Ziolkowski, David; Pardieck, Keith L.; Fallon, J.E.; Link, William Estimating indices of range shifts in birds using dynamic models when detection is imperfect
There is intense interest in basic and applied ecology about the effect of global change on current and future species distributions. Projections based on widely used static modeling methods implicitly assume that species are in equilibrium with the environment and that detection during surveys is perfect. We used multiseason correlated detection...
Clement, Matthew J.; Hines, James E.; Nichols, James D.; Pardieck, Keith L.; Ziolkowski, David J. The North American Breeding Bird Survey 1966–2011: Summary analysis and species accounts
The North American Breeding Bird Survey is a roadside, count-based survey conducted by volunteer observers. Begun in 1966, it now is a primary source of information on spatial and temporal patterns of population change for North American birds. We analyze population change for states, provinces, Bird Conservation Regions, and the entire survey...
Sauer, John R.; Link, William A.; Fallon, Jane E.; Pardieck, Keith L.; Ziolkowski, David J. On the road again for a bird survey that counts
Ziolkowski, Dave; Pardieck, Keith; Sauer, John R. The 2003-2008 summary of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
Data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey were used to estimate continental and regional changes in bird populations for the 6-yr period 2003-2008 and the 2-yr period 2007-2008. These short-term changes were placed in the context of population trends estimated over the 1966-2008 interval. Across the entire survey area, a higher proportion...
Ziolkowski, David J.; Pardieck, Keith L.; Sauer, John R.
Strategic Plan for the North American Breeding Bird Survey: 2006-2010
Executive Summary The mission of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is to provide scientifically credible measures of the status and trends of North American bird populations at continental and regional scales to inform biologically sound conservation and management actions. Determining population trends, relative abundance, and...