What is eBird?

Golden-crowned Sparrow, Forest Grove, Oregon on 21 October 2010 by Greg Gillson.

 

Recently I have begun using eBird and wanted to present some information about this "citizen science" program.

Sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, the heart of eBird is a free "real-time online checklist" program. But it is so much more.

On the surface it is as easy as going birding and then submitting an online checklist for each location where you birded that day. Every time you go birding, submit another checklist, or checklists, for the area(s) you visited. Simple. The program keeps tracks of your birding list by world, country, state, county, or birding hotspot, and by life total, year, or month.

The real power comes as it combines your checklists with everyone else's.

"The observations of each participant join those of others in an international network of eBird users. eBird then shares these observations with a global community of educators, land managers, ornithologists, and conservation biologists."

The sharing of many birders' checklists creates a huge database. How big? Big. As of November 2010: 45,000 birders in 200 countries reporting the status of 8665 species.

In North America the numbers of monthly checklists submitted is very large. California birders lead all others. 4211 individual checklists during the first 2 weeks of November. However, British Columbia, in 7th place, with very few birders has 1531 checklists submitted so far this November! Washington State, in 14th place, has 920 checklists the past 2 weeks. Oregon and Idaho are farther down the list. But I think more people should be using eBird. I encourage you to take a look at eBird.org.

So, is it only scientists that can use the data? No, there are things you can "research" as well, in the "View and Explore Data" section. Here are some examples...

• View the worldwide range of Winter Wren (before the split into 3 species)
  
• Create a county checklist, such as one for Lincoln County, Oregon
  
• Look at the checklist of all birds reported at Malheur NWR, Oregon in May 2010
  
• Look at the mapped range of Western Scrub-Jay in Washington State
  
• View the mapped range and click on the location flags to see who reported Oak Titmouse in Oregon
  
• Compare the seasonal range map of breeding Golden-crowned Sparrow with the winter range
  

So, besides entering your own data, you can keep track of other sightings in your local county, prepare for a visit to a birding hotspot at any time of year, track year-to-year (or month-to-month) variation in any bird species in any area.

And with your sightings added to the database, it will keep getting better....

Try it!

Backyard birds of... Sacramento, California

Golden-crowned Sparrow, Jackson Bottom, Hillsboro, Oregon on 8 December 2007 by Greg Gillson.

 

The following common yardbirds are found in Sacramento, California and the nearby Cosumnes River Preserve, about 22 miles south of Sacramento.

The seasons listed are those when most common, though some individuals may occur at other seasons.

California Quail, year-round
Rock Pigeon, year-round
Mourning Dove, year-round
Nuttall's Woodpecker, year-round
Downy Woodpecker, year-round
Northern Flicker, year-round
Black Phoebe, year-round
Ash-throated Flycatcher, spring, summer
Western Kingbird, spring, summer
Tree Swallow, spring, summer
Cliff Swallow, spring, summer, fall
Barn Swallow, spring, summer, fall
Western Scrub-Jay, year-round
Yellow-billed Magpie, year-round
American Crow, year-round
Plain Titmouse, year-round
Bushtit, year-round
White-breasted Nuthatch, year-round
Bewick's Wren, year-round
House Wren, spring, summer, fall
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, winter, spring
Western Bluebird, year-round
Hermit Thrush, winter, spring
American Robin, fall, winter, spring
Wrentit, year-round
Cedar Waxwing, fall, winter, spring
European Starling, year-round
Orange-crowned Warbler, spring, fall
Yellow-rumped Warbler, fall, winter, spring
Common Yellowthroat, spring, summer, fall
Wilson's Warbler, spring, fall
Western Tanager, spring, fall
Black-headed Grosbeak, spring, summer
Blue Grosbeak, summer
Lazuli Bunting, summer
Spotted Towhee, year-round
Savannah Sparrow, fall, winter, spring
Song Sparrow, year-round
Lincoln's Sparrow, fall, winter, spring
Golden-crowned Sparrow, fall, winter, spring
White-crowned Sparrow, fall, winter, spring
Dark-eyed Junco, fall, winter, spring
Red-winged Blackbird, year-round
Western Meadowlark, fall, winter, spring
Brewer's Blackbird, year-round
Brown-headed Cowbird, spring, summer, fall
Bullock's Oriole, spring, summer
House Finch, year-round
American Goldfinch, year-round
House Sparrow, year-round

This checklist is based on information provided in the
Cosumnes River Preserve bird checklist; Cosumnes River Preserve Site Guide; and Sacramento Audubon Society.

In the backyard... White-crowned Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow, Timber, Washington County, Oregon on 28 June 2008 by Greg Gillson.

 

The handsome White-crowned Sparrow is not overly common at backyard feeders in the Pacific Northwest in winter. But migrant birds pass through in April and September, often visiting backyard feeders in good numbers. West of the Cascades and especially along the coast these are common summer birds.

But this is an over-simplification of a fascinating population dynamic. If you look at the range map of White-crowned Sparrow in North America, you'll see birds breed from Newfoundland and across northern Canada through Alaska. From there they breed in the Rocky Mountains to northern Arizona and New Mexico, and also along the West Coast to southern California. Northern birds winter to the south, to the central latitudes of the interior US, along both US coasts, and into Mexico.

Ornithologists divide the White-crowned Sparrow into 5 populations. Each has a slightly different range, plumage, and song.

It is a bit complicated, but in the Pacific Northwest the birds breeding in the Rocky Mountains and mountains in the Great Basin are the "Mountain White-crowned Sparrow." This form has black lores (feathers between the bill and eye). All other regular forms in the Pacific Northwest have pale lores. They depart for southern regions in winter.

Spring (April) and fall migrants and occasional wintering birds, primarily east of the Cascades, are the "Gambel's" form nesting in Alaska. These winter in the deserts of the American Southwest and into Mexico.

West of the Cascades from southern British Columbia to northwestern California breeds the "Puget Sound" form (as photographed above). Some birds remain to winter, but most migrate south into southern California.

From Mendocino County, California, south along the immediate coast lives the non-migratory "Nuttall's White-crowned Sparrow".

Many of the birds in fall and winter are immatures with rusty brown and white stripes, rather than black and white. These young birds can be confused with immature Golden-crowned Sparrows. Likewise, the rather rare-in-the-West White-throated Sparrow is very similar, but with a blackish bill and white throat clearly set off from a grayish breast.

White-crowned Sparrows eat black oil sunflowers and other seeds at your backyard feeder. This may allow you to examine them more closely, perhaps noticing differences related to age or population as discussed above. For more details see especially the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

In the backyard... Golden-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow, Tualatin Hills Nature Park, Beaverton, Oregon on 13 March 2009 by Greg Gillson.

 

For most of the fall and winter this large sparrow occurs in rather drab plumage. The first year birds show a diffuse yellow forehead and brownish crown. Winter adults aren't much brighter. But, then, beginning in March (as in the photo above), the birds develop the wide black lateral crown stripe with the golden yellow median for which this bird is named. The birds begin singing in spring, as they make their way north into the mountains. Their song is a three-note plaintive whistle in descending notes, weee peee peer, which some render quite appropriately as: "oh dear me."

In fall and winter, first year Golden-crowned Sparrows might be confused with first year White-crowned Sparrows. However, the White-crowned Sparrows have a more definite brown lateral crown stripe and pale center crown stripe. Also note that the upper mandible of the bill of Golden-crowned Sparrow is dark, while the bill of White-crowned Sparrow is yellow or pink.

Golden-crowned Sparrows breed in willow bogs and dwarf conifers at or above timberline in mountains from western Alaska and Yukon south to southern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, rarely in the extreme northern Cascades of Washington state.

In winter, birds occur from coastal southeastern Alaska south, primarily west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas, in lesser numbers to northern Baja California. They are found in brush piles, blackberry tangles, and deciduous woodland edges, as well as in residential areas with similar dense brushy edges.

They are more widespread in migration, occurring in towns in the Great Basin deserts and mountain foothills to southeastern Idaho, though in much diminished numbers.

Their primary foods are seeds and plant material. The bird in the photo above is eating the new buds of Oregon Grape. They are attracted to backyard bird feeders from September to April.