Oregon Coast Seabird Colony Raw Counts from Aerial Surveys, 2006

Raw point counts of nesting seabirds derived from aerial photographs taken in 2006 along the Oregon coast. The data is managed by the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with census years including 1988, 1994, 2006, and 2014. These counts are not georeferenced and serve as the raw input for a complete Seabird Colony Count Catalog.

Use Cases

• Analyze seabird population trends based on aerial photographic colony surveys
• Monitor nesting seabird colonies on offshore islands based on refuge-wide imagery
• Establish a regional baseline for seabird colony legacy data based on long-term survey records
• Conduct statistical power analysis for population decline detection based on subsampling methodology

Strengths

• Data includes census years 1988, 1994, 2006, and 2014, providing a multi-decade baseline
• A subsample of 45 colonies was counted over time, including years 1988, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2014
• Counts are derived from an annual aerial imagery program used for monitoring population status and trends

Limitations

• Raw point counts are not registered to any geospatial coordinates and only line up with the source image
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• The subsample was selected based on common murre populations, limiting inferences for other species like Brandt's cormorant

Provenance

Source

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 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

Primary census from 2006, with references to surveys from 1988, 1994, and 2014

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-04 08:04:12.789315; freshness should be verified

Geography

Oregon Coast offshore islands