Projects to map the distributions of breeding bird species in a given area by means of a grid-based system have grown in popularity worldwide since the first of these breeding bird atlases (as they have come to be known) began in Great Britain in the 1960s (e.g., see Laughlin et al., Am. Birds 36:6, 1982).
In Europe and elsewhere atlas projects have often been national in scope. When atlasing hit North American shores, however, it fragmented into a state-by-state effort, and, as it made its way westward, into a county-by-county proposition.