Tracking the Evolution of the 3rd Edition
of the National Geographic Society's
Field Guide to the Birds of North America
By Fred Bouchard

Interviews:
[ Jon Dunn | Jonathan Alderfer | Paul Lehman ]

TVB: What was your role as Chief Map Consultant?

Lehman: It was my job to update all the 650 existing maps and add additional maps where appropriate. I consulted all the literature available, especially state monographs, breeding bird atlases, Christmas Bird Counts, and other sources; plus what I knew from extensive personal travels; plus many, many back-and-forth e-mails and phone calls to various state/provincial experts. There were also multiple back-and-forths between me and the NGS map staff, trying to get the maps as accurate as possible. Due to the volume of work needed to be completed in a very short length of time, I was assisted by Shawneen Finnegan and Bruce Peterjohn.

TVB: What was the general process for updating the maps?

Lehman: We took enlarged versions of the existing maps from the previous edition and wrote all over them, or started some maps from scratch. The map folks at NGS would make the changes at their end on computer and send us back the next draft for comment. This process often took as many as four rounds until the maps were accurate. These maps were then substantially reduced to the size one sees in the actaul guide.

TVB: Were there any particularly interesting species range changes from the 2nd to 3rd edition?

Lehman: There have been some incredible range increases and reductions since the last edition. Unfortunately, many more reductions stick in my mind compared to expansions. To get a feel for some of these, compare the 2nd and 3rd edition maps for species such as Loggerhead Shrike, Bewick's Wren, Bachman's Sparrow, even Burrowing Owl. In contrast, one species that wasn't even in the 2nd edition, now has a range map that will likely need to be expanded each time the guide is updated, and that species is Eurasian Collared-Dove!

TVB: Any other stories or comments about the maps or guide that you think birders might find interesting?

Lehman: One thing that was very difficult to do was map the breeding ranges for species that are rare and/or very irregular as breeders over large areas, species such as American Bittern, and Long-eared, Short-eared, and Northern Saw-whet Owls. A decision had to be all the time whether a species was regular enough to map, and where to map it if very local.

Also, it certainly was educational trying to figure out ranges throughout most of northern Canada. There are a few sources available, but not much!

Interviews:
[ Jon Dunn | Jonathan Alderfer | Paul Lehman ]