By Sergio Harding

Belted Kingfisher (photo by Kelly Colgan Azar)
It is happening – we have officially entered the final year of our work to bring you the Atlas results as a comprehensive, freely accessible website! With a projected date of Fall 2025, it is full steam ahead as we work to wrap up content production and develop the website in less than 12 months. Below is a summary of our Atlas-related activities in 2024, which have gotten us to where we are now, poised to complete this ambitious project that has been built upon the data so ably collected by the community of Virginia Atlas volunteers.
Species Accounts and Additional Content
The Atlas Final Products Committee* continued to meet regularly throughout 2024 to move the project forward. Intense focus was placed on perfecting the content to be included in the Species Accounts. These accounts will form the core of the website, providing summaries of Atlas data for 203 Virginia breeding bird species. They will include maps and figures illustrating species distribution, abundance, and timing of breeding, as well as population trends derived from non-Atlas data. Written narratives will provide interpretation of these data products, while also touching on habitats and conservation.
With input from the Committee, Managing Editor Austin Kane and Species Account Authors Ron Rohrbaugh and Megan Massa did the heavy lifting by completing drafts of over 90% of the accounts in 2024. Each account will be peer reviewed by qualified individuals, including folks working at universities, natural resource agencies, non-profit conservation organizations, and other knowledgeable persons. To date, approximately one quarter of the Species Accounts have undergone peer review.
Beyond the Species Accounts, the website will include material on Virginia’s geography and habitats, Atlas methodology (field protocols and data analyses), overarching results, the Atlas’ role in the conservation of Virginia’s breeding birds, and more. The Committee has identified authors to develop these sections of the website, for which writing has just begun.
The Atlas Website – the Partnership Expands
Formed in April and dissolved by November upon completion of its sole objective, the Atlas Web Development Committee was short-lived but efficient in accomplishing a vital function – identifying a web developer to design and build the Atlas website. Consisting of a few members of the Atlas Final Products Committee and of an additional Board member of the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO), the Web Development Committee drafted a detailed document outlining its vision for the website. This was then put out by the VSO in order to solicit proposals from prospective developers.
This process led to the selection of Crybaby Design, with whom the VSO signed a contract at the end of October. We couldn’t be more pleased with our choice: Crybaby Design consists of an experienced husband and wife team who, among their many projects, have worked extensively with natural resource organizations in developing their websites and other media. Their customers include Migratory Bird Joint Ventures, the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, the Virginia Tech Invasive Species Collaborative, and the Colorado Birding Trail. You can view a sampling of their work here. The Atlas Final Products Committee has already begun working with Crybaby Design to develop the Atlas website.

Homepage of Migratory Bird Joint Ventures website developed by Crybaby Design
*The Atlas Final Products Committee is: Rexanne Bruno (VSO), Sergio Harding (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources [DWR]), Lisa Koerner Perry (VSO), Ashley Peele (Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture), Dixie Sommers (VSO) and Meagan Thomas (DWR).