The north-south axis of the armillary sphere on his shoulders points to the North Star as viewed from New York City. Laid across Atlas's shoulders is a wide, curved beam that displays a frieze of the traditional symbols for Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Adjacent to Earth (over Atlas's right forearm) is a small crescent symbolizing the Moon. Affixed to one of the sphere's rings are symbols for twelve constellations through which the Sun passes during the year.
Five years of fieldwork by more than 1,200 contributors provided the data for this latest addition to our understanding of New York8's avifauna. This substantial book reveals striking changes in the distributions of many of our breeding birds since New York 's first Breeding Bird Atlas was published in 1988. Over half of our 253 species showed a significant change in their distribution, with 70 species showing increases and 58 species showing declines. Two-page species accounts for each of 244 species feature a color map that shows the current distribution of the bird in the state and second map that shows the change in distribution since the first atlas. The book is beautifully illustrated with black-and-white species drawings and 25 color paintings that depict New Yorkn's wide diversity of habitats.
The Breeding Bird Atlas is a comprehensive, statewide survey designed to reveal the distribution of breeding birds in New York. This second Atlas project in New York was conducted from 2000-2005 and resulted in the new publication and the associated database. The 1988 publication, The Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State edited by Robert F. Andrle and Janet R. Carroll, resulted from the first Breeding Bird Atlas Project in New York, conducted from 1980-1985. The recently completed project used the same methodology as the first Atlas to document changes that occurred in the ensuing twenty years.
The New York State Ornithological Association and the Department of Environmental Conservation once again sponsored this project in cooperation with New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University, Cornell University Department of Natural Resources, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
