Atlas of the birds in Bulgaria

1. Establishing the present distribution of the breeding bird species in Bulgaria based on 10 × 10 km (UTM – MGRS) grid.
2. Establishing the present distribution of the wintering bird species in Bulgaria based on 10 × 10 km (UTM – MGRS) grid.
3. Finding the changes in the distribution and abundance of the nesting birds in Bulgaria in comparison with the Atlas of Breeding Birds in Bulgaria (Yankov, 2007).
4. Estimation of the number of the populations of the breeding and wintering birds in Bulgaria.
5. Gathering data according to a unified methodology, allowing tracking of long-term changes in the distribution and abundance of breeding and wintering birds when repeating the study in the future.
6. Displaying the distribution of the largest possible number of species based on a grid 1 × 1 km.
7. Increasing the knowledge of Bulgarian bird lovers and attracting new ones.

The SmartBirds Pro app uses Android operating system and can be downloaded here. With the app you can record on your phone any observations on birds you know and enter in the database. Video guidelines for working with the application “SmartBirds Pro” can be found here.

We recommend that you select one or more 10-kilometer squares in which to register all bird species and apply survey methods. The selection of a 10-kilometer square for research is done in your personal profile on the SmartBirds.org site. Each 10-kilometer square is selected in the Atlas section, which after synchronization with the mobile application is visible in the SmartBirds Pro mobile application on your device. Click here for the video guidelines for mapping breeding birds.

The atlas combines a relatively simple method for determining the relative abundance of widespread species with species-specific method based on habitats and knowledge of the ecology and breeding biology of the species. The latter are good for determining the distribution of species with larger breeding areas and those with a secretive way of life. For these species, the study of the distribution and the discovery of new localities is a top priority. The proposed methods can, to a large extent, be used for monitoring, so that the collected information can serve as a basis for long-term monitoring of more groups of birds.

At present, we plan to use data collected in the period 2016-2025. This period may change, given the public nature of the initiative and the participation of volunteers. Providing additional funding can allow faster and better coverage of all squares. The ambition is to collect enough new data on the distribution and number of birds in all ten-kilometre squares for the period 2021-2025.