About

SBC was organized by Chandler Robbins, organizer of the North American Breeding Bird Survey, in 1959. A decade later, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources asked Vernon Kleen to organize the first statewide SBC in Illinois. 

Chandler Robbins mentored Vernon Kleen, who helped with the first SBC in Maryland, making Kleen a great candidate to take on such a large task. With help from the Illinois Audubon Society, the first Illinois count was conducted on Saturday, May 6, 1972, and included 650 observers in 62 counties.

Vern continued organizing the count for over 30 years before transitioning the count program to the Illinois Natural History Survey. Today, the survey has electronic SBC data dating back to 1975. Each year, SBC reports are published in the Meadowlark, a journal of the Illinois Ornithological Society, from where, along with the Illinois Audubon Society, many of the count’s volunteers come.