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Digital Distribution Maps of the Birds of the Western Hemisphere
Version 3.0

Introduction

Habitat for birds and other animals is disappearing quickly from the Earth's surface. Conservationists are in a race against time to protect remaining habitat to stem the loss of biodiversity. Critical to these conservation efforts is focusing on-the-ground actions on the places where threatened species are found. To aid conservationists in determining where these species occur, NatureServe formed part of a consortium of conservation organizations that joined forces to develop a digital library of the distributions of the birds and mammals of the Western Hemisphere. The goal of the project was to make these maps easily accessible to conservation planners and other interested users.

The data presented here represents an updated version of major product of this collaboration—a digital map library of the distributions of the birds of the Western Hemisphere, now covering 4,273 species. The maps are annotated to indicate sources, migratory status, historic versus current ranges, origin (native or introduced) and taxonomic decisions. The migratory status indications are particularly detailed, distinguishing where birds are permanent residents, breeding residents, non-breeding residents, or passage migrants.

These maps are presented as a free resource for conservationists, researchers, and the general public. To view the map for each species, visit our InfoNatura website, search for the species you are interested in, and click on "Range Map." To download the map files in ArcView format, see below. The map files can be viewed using ESRI ArcExplorer software, which can be downloaded for free from ESRI's website. Please contact ESRI, not NatureServe, for any support needs related to the software.

• Read the original Project Description (252K PDF).
• Read the Metadata for Version 3.0 (171K PDF).

Download ArcView files for birds organized by family:

Download the Entire Database

Birds Part 1 (Struthioniformes - Phoenicopteriformes), 147M
Birds Part 2 (Falconiformes - Gruiformes), 44M
Birds Part 3 (Charadriiformes), 167M
Birds Part 4 (Columbiformes - Piciformes), 68M
Birds Part 5 (Passeriformes - Suboscines), 48M
Birds Part 6 (Passeriformes - Oscines, Laniidae - Parulidae), 110M
Birds Part 7 (Passeriformes - Oscines, Incertae sedis (near Parulidae), 75M

• List of bird image needs

Citation and Acknowledgements

Citation of this data compilation is as follows:

Ridgely, R. S., T. F. Allnutt, T. Brooks, D. K. McNicol, D. W. Mehlman, B. E. Young, and J. R. Zook. 2007. Digital Distribution Maps of the Birds of the Western Hemisphere, version 3.0. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia, USA.

All products that make use of these data (produced in any media, including but not limited to publications, databases, theses, websites, and oral presentations) should acknowledge the data contributors in the following manner:

"Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Robert Ridgely, James Zook, The Nature Conservancy - Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International - CABS, World Wildlife Fund - US, and Environment Canada - WILDSPACE."

For additional detailed information about citing and using these data, see the original Project Description.

Copyright Notice

Compilation ©2010 NatureServe. All Rights Reserved.
NatureServe grants to the public a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to reproduce, translate, publish and use these data for non-commercial purposes.

 Copyright © 2010
 NatureServe

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