The mountain bird survey has also tracked the distribution of Bicknell’s thrush. Once thought to be a subspecies of the common gray-cheeked thrush, Bicknell’s thrush is now listed as a species of special concern in several states because its numbers are thought to be declining. Using data gathered by citizen scientists, researchers at VCE and Antioch University have developed a computer model that predicts where the thrush breeds, which lets planners know where to permit development or how climate change may affect the birds, Lambert says.
McShea conceived the idea for surveying mammals, especially predators, along the Appalachian Trail after attending the November 2006 meeting that launched the MEGA-Transect project. The six-month survey done in 2007, which he hopes to repeat in 2008, used some 50 cameras to take pictures of all animals that pass in front of the lenses. Helms’s cameras captured shots of deer, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, mice, and a bobcat. Phillips caught those animals plus a coyote.