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

Introduction

Illustration by Mark Wainwright.

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.

Download ArcView files for birds organized by family:

A-C D-J K-P Q-Z
Accipitridae.zip, 22M
Aegithalidae.zip, 90K
Alaudidae.zip, 2.3M
Alcedinidae.zip, 3.5M
Alcidae.zip, 16M
Anatidae.zip, 70M
Anhimidae.zip, 117K
Anhingidae.zip, 396K
Apodidae.zip, 3.1M
Aramidae.zip, 428K
Ardeidae.zip, 13M
Bombycillidae.zip, 2.4M
Bucconidae.zip, 1.1M
Burhinidae.zip, 90K
Capitonidae.zip, 231K
Caprimulgidae.zip, 4.3M
Cardinalidae.zip, 6.0M
Cariamidae.zip, 51K
Cathartidae.zip, 2.6M
Certhiidae.zip, 1.0M
Charadriidae.zip, 16M
Chionidae.zip, 442K
Ciconiidae.zip, 675K
Cinclidae.zip, 502K
Columbidae.zip, 7.5M
Conopophagidae.zip, 133K
Corvidae.zip, 7.0M
Cotingidae.zip, 1.2M
Cracidae.zip, 1.0M
Cuculidae.zip, 3.9M
Diomedeidae.zip, 1.8M
Dulidae.zip, 18K
Emberizidae.zip, 31M
Estrildidae.zip, 306K
Eurypygidae.zip, 157K
Falconidae.zip, 10.9M
Formicariidae.zip, 1.1M
Fregatidae.zip, 981K
Fringillidae.zip, 13M
Furnariidae.zip, 7.7M
Galbulidae.zip, 515K
Gaviidae.zip, 9.1M
Glareolidae.zip, 1K
Gruidae.zip, 1.8M
Haematopodidae.zip, 2.1M
Heliornithidae.zip, 151K
Hirundinidae.zip, 11M
Hydrobatidae.zip, 3.3M
Icteridae.zip, 14M
Incertae_sedis.zip, 2.2M
Incertae_sedis_(near_Cinclidae).zip, 105K
Incertae_sedis_(near_Parulidae).zip, 473K
Incertae_sedis_(near_Pipridae).zip, 1.1M
Incertae_sedis_(near_Thraupidae).zip, 983K
Jacanidae.zip, 368K
Laniidae.zip, 1.7M
Laridae.zip, 51M
Mimidae.zip, 2.8M
Momotidae.zip, 476K
Motacillidae.zip, 3.0M
Muscicapidae.zip, 12K
Nyctibiidae.zip, 460K
Odontophoridae.zip, 1M
Opisthocomidae.zip, 68K
Oxyruncidae.zip, 35K
Paridae.zip, 2.4M
Parulidae.zip, 42M
Parulidae_2.zip, 23M
Passeridae.zip, 1.4M
Pelecanidae.zip, 1.3M
Pelecanoididae.zip, 947K
Peucedramidae.zip, 7K
Phaethontidae.zip, 574K
Phalacrocoracidae.zip, 9.1M
Phasianidae.zip, 6.7M
Phoenicopteridae.zip, 242K
Picidae.zip, 13M
Pipridae.zip, 1.2M
Ploceidae.zip, 38K
Pluvianellidae.zip, 16K
Podicipedidae.zip, 6.4M
Procellariidae.zip, 8.9M
Prunellidae.zip, 10K
Psittacidae.zip, 4.3M
Psophiidae.zip, 57K
Ptilogonatidae.zip, 102K
Pycnonotidae.zip, 1K
Rallidae.zip, 8.2M
Ramphastidae.zip, 1.0M
Recurvirostridae.zip, 1.3M
Regulidae.zip, 2.6M
Remizidae.zip, 85K
Rheidae.zip, 78K
Rhinocryptidae.zip, 608K
Rostratulidae.zip, 49K
Sapayoidae.zip, 35K
Scolopacidae.zip, 68M
Semnornithidae.zip, 7K
Sittidae.zip, 2.0M
Spheniscidae.zip, 2.0M
Steatornithidae.zip, 19K
Stercorariidae.zip, 10.7M
Strigidae.zip, 14M
Sturnidae.zip, 1.5M
Sulidae.zip, 2.2M
Sylviidae.zip, 1.4M
Thamnophilidae.zip, 5.3M
Thinocoridae.zip, 183K
Thraupidae.zip, 8M
Threskiornithidae.zip, 2.4M
Timaliidae.zip, 22K
Tinamidae.zip, 1.1M
Todidae.zip, 80K
Trochilidae.zip, 8.5M
Troglodytidae.zip, 6.4M
Trogonidae.zip, 1.1M
Turdidae.zip, 13M
Tyrannidae.zip, 30M
Tytonidae.zip, 993K
Upupidae.zip, 1K
Vireonidae.zip, 6.9M

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

Request for Images

NatureServe is also in the process of posting images of all birds of the Western Hemisphere on its conservation information portals: NatureServe Explorer and InfoNatura. These images would be freely downloadable for noncommercial (e.g., educational) uses. Any for-profit uses or publication rights would be referred back to the contributing photographer. See examples of 300 fish images posted on NatureServe Explorer (e.g., search on Cottus baileyi and click on camera icon or comprehensive report icon). We have entered into an agreement with VIREO (Visual Resources for Ornithology) to post thumbnails images of images for 2000 birds occurring in Latin American that will link to images posted on their web site. The downloadable list represents other Western Hemisphere bird species whose images are still needed. Please contact animal_images@natureserve.org if you are interested in contributing images of any of these species to NatureServe Explorer and InfoNatura.

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 ©2007 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.



Additional Resources

 Search InfoNatura for birds of Latin  America and the  Caribbean .
Search for birds of North America on  NatureServe Explorer.
 Bird IDTM, birding software from TapPoint, uses the detailed range data presented here. A portion of the proceeds from each sale supports NatureServe's conservation work.





The consortium consists of the following organizations:

NatureServe

Conservation International
The Nature Conservancy
World Wildlife Fund
Wildspace Ontario
Funding for version 2.0 provided by NBII

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 Copyright © 2008
 NatureServe

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