– Citizen science is indeed helping scientists worldwide. For large-scale observations, the capacity of professional ornithologists is insufficient. Nature enthusiasts get to know birds, learn to use apps and keys that help identify birds by looks and songs, and join the monitoring efforts. In Europe, atlases are already being published based on data collected not only by professional scientists but also by amateurs, – commented Maria Matantseva, Project Coordinator, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS.
A Lapwing in Olonets grasslands. Photo: M. Matantseva / IB KarRC RAS
Data from the monitoring will, among other things, help identify endangered species and their population trends. However, this requires at least five successive years of bird counts. This must be kept in mind by volunteers who are just choosing a route – they will need to walk the route in the next five years. The route length should be at least two kilometers through a forest or open terrain. The surveyor needs to walk the route 2–3 times during the nesting period (in Karelia, this is the last ten days of May through June) and record all birds seen or heard. There are electronic or paper keys to help identify a bird or recognize its call, including apps such as iNaturalist, Merlin, or Birds of the Volga Region. According to ornithologists, hard-copy field guides should not be neglected, especially those that provide not so many photographs but rather drawings of birds: illustrators typically highlight the distinctive features of each species.
Before walking the route, you need to contact the coordinators via email, stating "Join the monitoring team" in the subject line. The coordinators in Karelia and the Leningrad Region are Maria Matantseva (MariaMatantseva@gmail.com) and Sergey Simonov (ssaves@gmail.com). Add a file with the description and geographic coordinates of your route as an attachment to the message.
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Project coordinators in Karelia and the Leningrad Region – Senior Researchers at the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS, Maria Matantseva and Sergey Simonov
To date, about fifty routes have been established in the republic. The results of the first years of the monitoring have been summarized in a volume, which, in addition to the observation facts, indicates the names of those who have collected them.
– It is still too early to announce population numbers, but what matters most is that the monitoring in Karelia has been functioning very well. We have almost no abandoned routes. That is, the volunteers who took on the task from the very beginning continue to carry out observations. Many thanks to them! Regarding the geography: Petrozavodsk and its surroundings are very well covered, and there are routes in the Olonets, Prionezhsky, and Kondopoga Districts. It is important to extend the observations to central and northern Karelia, – emphasized Maria Matantseva.
In 2025, the project "Development of the Bird Population Monitoring Program in European Russia" was granted support from the Presidential Foundation for Nature. Its results will help identify species with declining populations and concentrate on their conservation. Birds occupy the upper tiers of the ecological pyramid, and the state of their populations largely depends on the condition of ecosystems. Therefore, avians can, in a way, serve as an indicator of environmental wellbeing. It is a known fact that the habitats where the abundance and diversity of birds are declining usually lose also other animal and plant species. Thus, knowledge of bird population sizes and monitoring of their dynamics help identify areas with the least and most favorable environmental conditions.
