DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nzs7h450d
title: Data from: An ecological vulnerability index to assess impacts of offshore wind facilities on migratory song-birds

description: As offshore wind (OSW) energy expands globally, migratory songbirds are at
 risk of mortality from collisions with turbine blades, though the
 magnitude of this threat, and which species are most vulnerable, remains
 poorly understood. Ecological vulnerability indices are commonly used to
 assess species’ susceptibility to harmful factors, with results used to
 direct scarce research and monitoring resources to species showing
 relatively high vulnerability. These indices are based on the traits that
 elevate a species risk to adverse impacts (sensitivity), the overlap in
 occurrence between a species and the potentially harmful agent (exposure),
 and the influence of this exposure on the species’ local or global
 persistence (resilience). We modified ecological vulnerability indices for
 seabirds to assess vulnerability of migratory songbirds to OSW related
 mortality. As a pertinent case study, we considered songbirds that fly
 across the Northwest Atlantic during their autumn migration. We utilized
 readily available information on each species’ migratory behavior, life
 history, and conservation status to calculate an index score that could
 range from 1 (lowest vulnerability) to 125 (highest vulnerability). We
 found scores of 3 to 55.2 for the 101 songbird species evaluated, with New
 World warblers (Parulidae) over-represented among the highest scoring
 species. We found the scores to be sensitive to uncertainty in index
 components, highlighting the importance of considering scoring uncertainty
 when evaluating ecological vulnerability indices. Finally, we found that
 for seven of the top ten highest scoring species, modest improvements in
 population trends had the potential to lower the scores substantially. Our
 methodology is readily applicable to other regions where OSW development
 is planned and songbird migration is common, allowing research and
 monitoring activities to be targeted to species most likely to be
 negatively affected by OSW facility encounters.
description: This dataset consists of processed Z-Scores used to produce the
 Migratory Corridor Score, a component of our vulnerability index. The
 Z-scores were produced using raw count data from Northwest Atlantic
 Seabird Catalog (NWASC) sightings and eBird citizen science observations
 from both offshore in the Northwest Atlantic and from Bermuda made in
 autumn. The NWASC was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
 Administration (NOAA) and contains data collected by NOAA, the United
 States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy
 Management. The NWASC contains offshore survey data (largely focusing on
 seabirds) from various state and federal agencies and non-profit groups
 and is housed at the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
 eBird data was collected from the publicly accessible online
 interface. We tallied the number of observations of
 each species from the three data sources. We normalized each of the three
 counts by estimated North American population size for each species which
 we obtained from The Partners in Flight (PIF) Population Estimates
 Database housed at the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. We utilized the
 column "Population Estimate USA/Canada" in version 3.1 of the
 Population Estimates Database. We z-transformed the resulting normalized
 count data and selected the largest Z-score for each species.
 The dataset provided here consists of the processed Z-scores. For
 access to the Northwest Atlantic Seabird Catalog please reach out to the
 National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science at NOAA
 (https://coastalscience.noaa.gov). For access to the raw eBird data please
 see (https://ebird.org/home) and for the PIF Population Estimates Database
 please see the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
 (https://pif.birdconservancy.org/population-estimates-database/).
description: # Data from: An ecological vulnerability index to assess impacts of
 offshore wind facilities on migratory song-birds
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nzs7h450d](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nzs7h450d) ## Description of the data and file structure These data are a component of a broader project to create a vulnerability index for the neotropical migratory songbirds of eastern North America to offshore wind energy. Contained here are the Z-scores used to create the Migratory Corridor Score for each species. The Migratory Corridor Score relates to how frequently a species is observed in the offshore space given the species' North American population size. The data presented here are processed Z-scores and are presented for the purposes of study repeatability, the raw data used to create the Z-scores can be accessed via contacting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies depending on the specific data wanted.  ### Files and variables #### File: Migratory\_Corridor\_Z-Scores.csv **Description:** CSV file containing the processed Z-scores for each species in our analysis. ##### Variables * English Name: The accepted common name for each species under consideration, as found in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Species List * Scientific Name: The accepted scientific name for each species under consideration, as found in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Species List * NWASC.Z.Score: The processed Z-score for each species based on offshore occurrence records in the Northwest Atlantic Seabird Catalog and North American population sizes from the Population Estimates Database. * eBird.Z.Score: The processed Z-score for each species based on offshore occurrence records in eBird and North American population sizes from the Population Estimates Database. * Bermuda.Z.Score: The processed Z-score for each species based on occurrence records from Bermuda in eBird and North American population sizes from the Population Estimates Database. * Highest Z Score: The largest Z-score from the above three potential Z-scores. This value was used for calculating the Migratory Corridor Score for each species in our vulnerability index.  ## Code/software The data file presented here is a CSV file and can be viewed in any text or spreadsheet editor. The data were created in Microsoft Excel for Mac Version 16.87. ## Access information Data was derived from the following sources: * Northwest Atlantic Seabird Catalog (available via request to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science [https://coastalscience.noaa.gov](https://coastalscience.noaa.gov)) * eBird (ebird.org) * Partners in Flight Population Estimates Database ([https://pif.birdconservancy.org/population-estimates-database/](https://pif.birdconservancy.org/population-estimates-database/))