Oregon Coast Seabird Colony Raw Counts from Aerial Surveys, 2003

2003 aerial photographic surveys of surface-nesting seabird colonies along the Oregon coast, managed by the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The data consists of raw point counts derived from non-georeferenced images, representing a subsample of 45 colonies counted over multiple years. The counts were initially started in 2003 but were not completed until 2020.

Use Cases

• Monitoring population status and trends based on annual aerial imagery.
• Analyzing long-term seabird colony legacy data based on census years (1988, 1994, 2006, 2014).
• Conducting statistical power analysis for sampling design based on the subsample of 45 colonies.
• Studying common murre populations based on the size- and geographical-based stratified random sampling approach.

Strengths

• Subsample of 45 colonies counted over multiple survey years (1988, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014).
• Aerial photography serves as the primary monitoring method, providing refuge-wide imagery datasets.
• Counts undergo a secondary check before entry into the authoritative Seabird Colony Count Catalog.

Limitations

• Raw point counts are not registered to any geospatial coordinates.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The subsample was selected based on common murre populations, limiting inferences about Brandt's cormorants.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

Collection Method

Aerial photographic colony surveys, with counts done manually from projected slide images or digitally in GIS.

Time Range

Survey years include 1988, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-04 08:05:39.274448; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Oregon coast offshore islands.