The BirdsEye BirdLog is an application that runs on your smart phone and allows you to create and submit your eBird checklists right from the field. Brian Sullivan of eBird tells me that about 20% of all eBird checklists in the US are submitted by BirdLog and this number is rising rapidly.
I previewed this amazing technology when it first came out in March 2012: BirdsEye Bird Log: Killer app for eBirders.
eBird has their own best practices for BirdLog but I wanted to write my own best practices based on my experience over the last year or so. I'm using an Android phone; the fine details may be slightly different with the Apple iPhone. I do recommend looking at eBird's pointers, though.
Frankly, data coverage for cell phones is spotty in Oregon. I am using Cricket and they use the Sprint network for 3G data. This means that I have web access to the BirdLog phone application at home, up and down the I-5 corridor, and in major towns in the Willamette Valley and along the coast. When I am birding in areas with web access for the BirdLog app on my Android phone, it works quite well. For most of my countryside and forest birding, however, I do not have web access with my phone, and often not even roaming voice or text messaging. There is no web service in the Coast Range, Cascades, and most of the eastern two-thirds of the state. Thus I use the "Create offline checklist" feature of BirdLog on over 50% of my birding trips.
The main differences between the way BirdLog works with the online checklist and the offline checklist are primarily as follows. The offline checklist uses the entire default North American checklist rather than the local list of expected species for that time of year and county. It therefore doesn't know which birds are rare in your area, and sometimes requests confirmation for every species (a bug in the program of (only?) Android phones (has this been fixed in the latest update I just downloaded?). The offline checklist uses the sometimes inaccurate GPS alone to locate your position, and not the seemingly more accurate interactive map of the online checklist. Thus you can't locate your checklist on a hotspot, for instance, until you edit the location at home later. You can save your offline checklists to your phone, but can't submit them to eBird until you are back in the web coverage range again. These differences, however, don't significantly change the way I use BirdLog.
Start the application
When I first pull in to my birding location, before I even get out of the car, I immediately start up a new BirdLog checklist. Because GPS can be off, I always type in a descriptive location in addition to the longitude and latitude coordinates. I'll check, move if necessary, and rename the location later from within eBird, when I get home, using the "edit location/choose new location from a map" option.
Record species
As I bird, I record the new species I detect. This can get distracting, so I tend to bird slower than I used to--a good thing, as I detect more species! But don't miss birds because you have your nose in your phone! After I step out of the car I record what I can see and hear immediately, then only update the species list every 3 species (three being the number of things I can remember without forgetting...).
There are several ways to record species. You can scroll through the list. This is handy to make sure you haven't forgotten something. But if you are working offline you will have the entire North American list, so better only when you have the local list that comes with web access and cell phone coverage. BirdLog uses the bander's 4-letter code (KILL for Killdeer, AMRO for American Robin, WSJA for Western Scrub-Jay, etc.). But also, BirdLog will auto complete after the first 3 letters. So BAR will bring up Barn Owl, Barred Owl, and Barn Swallow for you to choose from. THR will bring up the thrushes and thrashers [Useful tip: if you have web access and are working online, and you see a bird that has a look-alike, say, one of the brown thrushes, typing in THRU will bring up all the local thrushes, but the most common will be listed first.]
Subspecies can be recorded too. MOF will bring up moffitti/maxima Canada Goose. AUD will bring up Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler. For Red-shafted x Yellow-shafted Flicker type FLI and hold your finger down on the drop down list to bring up further options.
Record numbers
I don't record numbers as I see them. Rather, I wait until I am returning to the car to make estimates. This is done by only looking at the species recorded, so I don't have to scroll through birds I haven't seen. When back to the car I check the numbers one final time.
Comments
For unusual birds I add COMMENTS to the field when I see them. One great tool is to be able to record the exact GPS coordinates in the comments field. This is newly computed and different from the initial checklist coordinates that were computed when you first started the checklist. This is a great way to give directions to a rare bird! My phone has both Swype and speech-to-text that work very well rather than typing to add comments in the field.
Time and Distance
I estimate how far I walked. Then I hit CALCULATE to record the time, which keeps track of my birding time from when I started the checklist. Since I always start the checklist when I arrive at a birding location, the time is accurate.
Saving
I SAVE the checklist, but don't SUBMIT--even if I have web access. Invariably, as I drive away I'll see something in the parking lot that should be added to the list (or remember a bird I left off). So I'll wait until I am away from the birding area and back in cell coverage submit the list.
Since BirdLog is so easy to use, I create numerous checklists as I travel through the woods or country, often stopping at good looking habitat and doing a 5-15 minute Stationary point count.
More checklists. Checklists right from the field with no copying notes into eBird later. BirdLog is an eBirder's dream.
Showing posts with label eBird best practices. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eBird best practices. Show all posts
Friday, July 26, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
eBird best practices
Recording hybrids, subspecies, and spuhs
There are many times when you are birding you may wish to record more than just species in eBird.
For instance, the mouth of the Columbia River is the center of the breeding range for hybrid Western and Glaucous-winged gulls. In winter these hybrids are quite common in western Oregon and Washington--perhaps more so than either parent species. You'll want to add Western x Glaucous-winged Gull to your checklist.
Throughout the Pacific Northwest the common Dark-eyed Junco is the Oregon form. However, one might encounter Slate-colored, Pink-sided, or even Gray-headed forms. These used to be considered separate species, but are now all considered varieties of just one species. But if you see an individual of the Slate-colored subspecies, such a unique sighting deserves to be recognized in your checklist as Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco, not just as a comment under Dark-eyed Junco. [One caution. Don't record subspecies based only on range if you really can't identify them. For instance, in North America the default Osprey is the American form. There are other forms in Eurasia, the Caribbean, and Australasian regions that you can choose from eBird. But don't write down "Osprey (American)" for a bird in Idaho unless you have specifically identified that form and eliminated the others.]
What, though, is a "spuh"? Well, say you see some kind of swallow, but aren't sure exactly what species. Then the species is undetermined and you would record: swallow (species unknown), more often just abbreviated as: swallow (sp.), pronounced "swallow spuh."
You can add hybrids, subspecies, and spuhs to your checklist at any time. If they are common in your area, they may appear on the default area checklist already. If not you can add them. But how do you know if what you want to add exists in eBird? When you "add species" when submitting a checklist, a menu drops down. But what if the bird you want doesn't seem to exist in the list? One way to check is to broaden your search.
For instance, I just clicked the Add Species and entered Goose. All geese in the world come up. From there you can choose from several domestic types, hybrids, subspecies groups, and species pairs that often do not appear on the default checklist.
Remember, when you add a species to a checklist (hybrid or subspecies) it will go the the local eBird Reviewer for verification. So be sure to include a brief comment on how you identified it in the comments (size and shape, plumage, behavior, song, and habitat).
More help on this subject is available from eBird.
For instance, the mouth of the Columbia River is the center of the breeding range for hybrid Western and Glaucous-winged gulls. In winter these hybrids are quite common in western Oregon and Washington--perhaps more so than either parent species. You'll want to add Western x Glaucous-winged Gull to your checklist.
Throughout the Pacific Northwest the common Dark-eyed Junco is the Oregon form. However, one might encounter Slate-colored, Pink-sided, or even Gray-headed forms. These used to be considered separate species, but are now all considered varieties of just one species. But if you see an individual of the Slate-colored subspecies, such a unique sighting deserves to be recognized in your checklist as Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco, not just as a comment under Dark-eyed Junco. [One caution. Don't record subspecies based only on range if you really can't identify them. For instance, in North America the default Osprey is the American form. There are other forms in Eurasia, the Caribbean, and Australasian regions that you can choose from eBird. But don't write down "Osprey (American)" for a bird in Idaho unless you have specifically identified that form and eliminated the others.]
What, though, is a "spuh"? Well, say you see some kind of swallow, but aren't sure exactly what species. Then the species is undetermined and you would record: swallow (species unknown), more often just abbreviated as: swallow (sp.), pronounced "swallow spuh."
You can add hybrids, subspecies, and spuhs to your checklist at any time. If they are common in your area, they may appear on the default area checklist already. If not you can add them. But how do you know if what you want to add exists in eBird? When you "add species" when submitting a checklist, a menu drops down. But what if the bird you want doesn't seem to exist in the list? One way to check is to broaden your search.
For instance, I just clicked the Add Species and entered Goose. All geese in the world come up. From there you can choose from several domestic types, hybrids, subspecies groups, and species pairs that often do not appear on the default checklist.
Remember, when you add a species to a checklist (hybrid or subspecies) it will go the the local eBird Reviewer for verification. So be sure to include a brief comment on how you identified it in the comments (size and shape, plumage, behavior, song, and habitat).
More help on this subject is available from eBird.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
eBird best practices
Add photos to your checklist.
You can embed photos, videos, and recordings of unusual or exciting birds to your checklists.
If you have a photo sharing website you can find the URL of your image and insert it directly as:
HTML code: <img src="http://your-photo-sharing-site/your-photo-name.jpg" />
If you use Flickr you can use the "share" function and copy the code.
Here are two things to remember:
1) Add the photo to the species comments section for each species (NOT checklist comments).
2) Use "medium" size (about 400x400 pixels).
3) Use no more than 2 photos per species.
Example eBird list with several photos embedded.
There are two pages on the eBird site that will provide more details.
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/embed-photos-in-your-checklists
http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/973966-adding-photos-videos-and-recordings-to-checklists
If you have a photo sharing website you can find the URL of your image and insert it directly as:
HTML code: <img src="http://your-photo-sharing-site/your-photo-name.jpg" />
If you use Flickr you can use the "share" function and copy the code.
Here are two things to remember:
1) Add the photo to the species comments section for each species (NOT checklist comments).
2) Use "medium" size (about 400x400 pixels).
3) Use no more than 2 photos per species.
Example eBird list with several photos embedded.
There are two pages on the eBird site that will provide more details.
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/embed-photos-in-your-checklists
http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/973966-adding-photos-videos-and-recordings-to-checklists
Monday, March 18, 2013
eBird best practices
Be an eBird advocate: Share your lists!
I started eBirding just over 2 years ago. eBird, as a phenomenon, is probably unprecedented. I rank eBird right up there in importance to birding with Peterson's first field guide, email birding lists, and the recent abundance of low-cost powerful digital cameras.
How can I best share eBird with others? One way is that when I go birding with others I send them the eBird checklist by means of a "share." When they accept the shared list it adds the birds to their eBird lists. If they haven't signed up for eBird yet, perhaps my shared list will entice them to do so. After all, it is simply a name, location, and email to join the eBird community.
When leading a pelagic trip I use best practices to create smaller-area lists (harbor, near shore, 5-20 miles, and chum stop as separate lists). Then I share the lists and all observers then have their list show on the map at the same location flag, rather than a dozen lists in slightly different places, if they submitted their lists on their own.
Is there a way you can share your lists or otherwise become an eBird advocate?
I'm an eBirder. Are you?
How can I best share eBird with others? One way is that when I go birding with others I send them the eBird checklist by means of a "share." When they accept the shared list it adds the birds to their eBird lists. If they haven't signed up for eBird yet, perhaps my shared list will entice them to do so. After all, it is simply a name, location, and email to join the eBird community.
When leading a pelagic trip I use best practices to create smaller-area lists (harbor, near shore, 5-20 miles, and chum stop as separate lists). Then I share the lists and all observers then have their list show on the map at the same location flag, rather than a dozen lists in slightly different places, if they submitted their lists on their own.
Is there a way you can share your lists or otherwise become an eBird advocate?
I'm an eBirder. Are you?
Sunday, February 10, 2013
eBird best practices: list building
eBird is designed to automatically show your lists (county, state, year, life, etc.) as you enter your bird sightings. In fact, even if you're not a lister, eBird could turn you into one--especially a county lister!
What about past sightings? Well, as we discussed in Enter your old field lists, you may enter older sightings and field lists, adding species to your lists that you may not have seen recently. The point comes, though, when you have entered all your old lists and some species are still missing that were never in your field notes, or you just have too many old lists to enter and you get tired of waiting, and you want to enter just your list of bird species ever seen, without entering every individual bird you've ever seen.
eBird is not designed (yet) just to enter bird lists without exact date and location. But I know that you will be tempted to enter your state or county life lists without knowing exactly where or when you saw the bird. In other words, you are going to "cheat" and enter a dummy field list.
Since I know you're going to do it, I'm going to tell you how... without messing up the data integrity of eBird.
If you want to enter a life list for an entire state you can do so by submitting data in the entry called "Select an entire city, county, or state." If you enter only the state and country into the required fields your list should automatically be considered invalid because the location is too imprecise for eBird. There are two additional steps that you can take to flag these dummy lists. These steps must be done if you are submitting a dummy county list. Add a comment in the comments field that the list is a dummy for listing purposes. Change the date to January 1, 1900. That is the earliest date eBird accepts without special request.
If you do these three things an eBird reviewer will know to block the list data from eBird: 1. submit as a county or state only without a specific location, 2. add a comment that the checklist is for listing purposes only, and 3. make the date January 1, 1900. The birds in such a blocked list will not be added to eBird's abundance bar charts, but they will still show up in your personal lists.
What about past sightings? Well, as we discussed in Enter your old field lists, you may enter older sightings and field lists, adding species to your lists that you may not have seen recently. The point comes, though, when you have entered all your old lists and some species are still missing that were never in your field notes, or you just have too many old lists to enter and you get tired of waiting, and you want to enter just your list of bird species ever seen, without entering every individual bird you've ever seen.
eBird is not designed (yet) just to enter bird lists without exact date and location. But I know that you will be tempted to enter your state or county life lists without knowing exactly where or when you saw the bird. In other words, you are going to "cheat" and enter a dummy field list.
Since I know you're going to do it, I'm going to tell you how... without messing up the data integrity of eBird.
If you want to enter a life list for an entire state you can do so by submitting data in the entry called "Select an entire city, county, or state." If you enter only the state and country into the required fields your list should automatically be considered invalid because the location is too imprecise for eBird. There are two additional steps that you can take to flag these dummy lists. These steps must be done if you are submitting a dummy county list. Add a comment in the comments field that the list is a dummy for listing purposes. Change the date to January 1, 1900. That is the earliest date eBird accepts without special request.
If you do these three things an eBird reviewer will know to block the list data from eBird: 1. submit as a county or state only without a specific location, 2. add a comment that the checklist is for listing purposes only, and 3. make the date January 1, 1900. The birds in such a blocked list will not be added to eBird's abundance bar charts, but they will still show up in your personal lists.
Friday, December 28, 2012
eBird best practices
Get to know your local Reviewer
In the last year eBird acceptance and participation continues to increase--at least it seems so to me. Most birders know what eBird is; many are using it.
As you bird in different areas you are likely to see some unusual species or high numbers that trip the eBird filter. Soon thereafter, you get an email with the subject: "Question about your [bird name] observation in eBird." Rather than shuffle these off to your spam filter (kidding!) look at these emails from eBird Reviewers as a chance to get to know an expert in an area.
OK, first off, it is possible that the local Reviewer is NOT the most expert person on the bird status of that county. But they were the most expert to volunteer to be the eBird Reviewer for that county. So, when Oregon started getting eBird Reviewers, I was initially given about 12 counties. However, 5 of those counties were in NE Oregon--a rural area with few birders. I had books on status of birds in the area, but there were many species whose status I was uncertain. I was so happy when local NE Oregon Trent Bray agreed to be Reviewer for those counties.
That leaves me with 5 counties in NW Oregon. I consider myself the expert in one of those counties, and have considerable experience birding in the others. Nevertheless, Mike Patterson in Clatsop County is the local expert in that county. He expresses no interest in being eBird Reviewer for his home county. I don't blame him; it is a bit of work that you have to take from someplace else (like actually watching birds).
Mike sometimes gives me "status updates" when he disagrees with where the filter levels are set. One of his observations was that the filter levels seem like they were set by someone from "out of town." Of course, that's true. The county filter levels were set initially with state-wide status and then refined from there--several counties lumped as one, then individual counties spit from them. There is always more work to be done. Reviewers will be happy to reset filters if you suggest reasonable limits. But each species in each county has it own filter settings.
Another observation that Mike made was that the filter levels seemed set for "average" birders rather than the actual county status. Yes, true. Hard-to-identify species generally have their filter numbers set to trip at a lower number than the actual status. For instance, I set Thayer's Gulls in Lincoln County, Oregon to trip with perhaps 10 birds, when over 50 are sometimes possible. However, inexperienced birders can easily misidentify hybrid Glaucous-winged x Western Gulls (perhaps the most common winter gull along the northern Oregon coast) as Thayer's. In such a case, I mark in the Review Tool as "unexceptional" tallies of Thayer's Gulls from birders whose expertise I know. But I am also able to look at the whole list and see if they have all the gulls in the correct proportions. If I don't know the person and the numbers of other gulls don't seem right, then I send them an email ("Question about your [bird name] observation in eBird") asking for more details. As an eBird Reviewer I can tell a lot about a person's expertise by looking at their list and number of species.
Now that I've gone off on a tangent, let me bring it back to you getting to know the Reviewer. This is important: when you are entering your sightings into the eBird checklist, every time the automatic filter says something like "That's an unusual bird! Are you sure?" a real person (eBird Reviewer) will be looking at the record to verify it.
If you don't leave any comments the Reviewer will send you an email asking for more details. We want plumage and behavior descriptions. However, if you can add just the clinching field marks you used to your comments when entering the sighting, that's often enough that the Reviewer doesn't have to send you an email to get clarification (not that the Reviewer minds--that's their job).
There is a "canned" message, but most Reviewers will personalize it. Some Reviewers don't like to "lead" a report by suggesting an alternative bird, but I see nothing wrong with saying: 'you reported this bird which is very rare here at this time of year, yet your list is missing a common look-a-like bird. Could it have been the common bird, instead?' Something like that. Or, 'wow! That's a high number. Can you verify that it isn't a typo?'
Most (but not all) eBird Reviewers are willing and happy to share their knowledge. When they contact you to verify one of your sightings, look at it as an opportunity to learn status, distribution, and ID of local birds. Be open to suggestions (not defensive), ask questions, get to know your local Reviewer and improve your birding!
As you bird in different areas you are likely to see some unusual species or high numbers that trip the eBird filter. Soon thereafter, you get an email with the subject: "Question about your [bird name] observation in eBird." Rather than shuffle these off to your spam filter (kidding!) look at these emails from eBird Reviewers as a chance to get to know an expert in an area.
OK, first off, it is possible that the local Reviewer is NOT the most expert person on the bird status of that county. But they were the most expert to volunteer to be the eBird Reviewer for that county. So, when Oregon started getting eBird Reviewers, I was initially given about 12 counties. However, 5 of those counties were in NE Oregon--a rural area with few birders. I had books on status of birds in the area, but there were many species whose status I was uncertain. I was so happy when local NE Oregon Trent Bray agreed to be Reviewer for those counties.
That leaves me with 5 counties in NW Oregon. I consider myself the expert in one of those counties, and have considerable experience birding in the others. Nevertheless, Mike Patterson in Clatsop County is the local expert in that county. He expresses no interest in being eBird Reviewer for his home county. I don't blame him; it is a bit of work that you have to take from someplace else (like actually watching birds).
Mike sometimes gives me "status updates" when he disagrees with where the filter levels are set. One of his observations was that the filter levels seem like they were set by someone from "out of town." Of course, that's true. The county filter levels were set initially with state-wide status and then refined from there--several counties lumped as one, then individual counties spit from them. There is always more work to be done. Reviewers will be happy to reset filters if you suggest reasonable limits. But each species in each county has it own filter settings.
Another observation that Mike made was that the filter levels seemed set for "average" birders rather than the actual county status. Yes, true. Hard-to-identify species generally have their filter numbers set to trip at a lower number than the actual status. For instance, I set Thayer's Gulls in Lincoln County, Oregon to trip with perhaps 10 birds, when over 50 are sometimes possible. However, inexperienced birders can easily misidentify hybrid Glaucous-winged x Western Gulls (perhaps the most common winter gull along the northern Oregon coast) as Thayer's. In such a case, I mark in the Review Tool as "unexceptional" tallies of Thayer's Gulls from birders whose expertise I know. But I am also able to look at the whole list and see if they have all the gulls in the correct proportions. If I don't know the person and the numbers of other gulls don't seem right, then I send them an email ("Question about your [bird name] observation in eBird") asking for more details. As an eBird Reviewer I can tell a lot about a person's expertise by looking at their list and number of species.
Now that I've gone off on a tangent, let me bring it back to you getting to know the Reviewer. This is important: when you are entering your sightings into the eBird checklist, every time the automatic filter says something like "That's an unusual bird! Are you sure?" a real person (eBird Reviewer) will be looking at the record to verify it.
If you don't leave any comments the Reviewer will send you an email asking for more details. We want plumage and behavior descriptions. However, if you can add just the clinching field marks you used to your comments when entering the sighting, that's often enough that the Reviewer doesn't have to send you an email to get clarification (not that the Reviewer minds--that's their job).
There is a "canned" message, but most Reviewers will personalize it. Some Reviewers don't like to "lead" a report by suggesting an alternative bird, but I see nothing wrong with saying: 'you reported this bird which is very rare here at this time of year, yet your list is missing a common look-a-like bird. Could it have been the common bird, instead?' Something like that. Or, 'wow! That's a high number. Can you verify that it isn't a typo?'
Most (but not all) eBird Reviewers are willing and happy to share their knowledge. When they contact you to verify one of your sightings, look at it as an opportunity to learn status, distribution, and ID of local birds. Be open to suggestions (not defensive), ask questions, get to know your local Reviewer and improve your birding!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
eBird best practices
Enter your old field lists
I have kept notes and bird lists of my outings ever since I started birding. At times my notes were prolific and daily. At other times my notes were sparse to non-existent for months or years. Thus, besides entering my recent sightings into eBird the past 2 years since joining, I have gone back to enter older sightings.
Because on my early birding lists I didn't usually record starting time and effort, I had to enter many of these checklists as "incidental." I started birding in November 1972. My first bird lists with enough data to enter into eBird began in 1975. I have now entered all my bird lists from then to mid-1987. This includes the period from August 1979 to December 1984 when I lived in Ventura, California. I am number 12 on the Ventura County all-time birding list, with over 200 complete checklists and 286 species.
I had to be careful, though, that my lists were all from one small area. One can add county lists or even state lists, but these are invalidated from eBird checklists and public output. They would still show up on my personal lists, though. I have decided that if they don't fit neatly in eBird "rules" that I won't enter them. So, some of my traveling lists and big days were not entered unless just individual noteworthy birds on incidental lists not recording all species. So, exact date and exact location.
Of course, I pretty much have forgotten the details of many of these sightings. Thus I am unable to add additional details when eBird flags the sightings as unusual. This has given me an opportunity to get to know the various eBird Reviewers around the country--a topic for a future post!
Because on my early birding lists I didn't usually record starting time and effort, I had to enter many of these checklists as "incidental." I started birding in November 1972. My first bird lists with enough data to enter into eBird began in 1975. I have now entered all my bird lists from then to mid-1987. This includes the period from August 1979 to December 1984 when I lived in Ventura, California. I am number 12 on the Ventura County all-time birding list, with over 200 complete checklists and 286 species.
I had to be careful, though, that my lists were all from one small area. One can add county lists or even state lists, but these are invalidated from eBird checklists and public output. They would still show up on my personal lists, though. I have decided that if they don't fit neatly in eBird "rules" that I won't enter them. So, some of my traveling lists and big days were not entered unless just individual noteworthy birds on incidental lists not recording all species. So, exact date and exact location.
Of course, I pretty much have forgotten the details of many of these sightings. Thus I am unable to add additional details when eBird flags the sightings as unusual. This has given me an opportunity to get to know the various eBird Reviewers around the country--a topic for a future post!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Don't be casual!
The most useful checklists to submit to eBird are complete checklists (every species detected is listed) and every species counted. If at all possible, you should accurately track observer effort--mileage and time. As you use eBird, more and more of your checklists will be as these.
The two main categories of effort-based lists are "Stationary" (you birded from a single location and didn't move more than 100 feet or so) and also a "Traveling" count. Traveling counts can be walked or driven (or both). Traveling counts are recommended to be 5 miles or less. If you change habitats, change to another checklist. On the other hand, if you are traveling through miles of identical habitat then it is not necessary to change checklists after 5 miles (think mono-species grasslands or pelagic trips). No eBird checklist should cross county borders. eBird Reviewers are instructed to weed out long trip lists that span county borders or multiple habitats. Thus, if you enter such lists the data will not be used in the maps and bar charts. But they will appear in your personal lists.
Sometimes, though, you see a noteworthy bird when you aren't birding. Or, you are entering sightings from years past--before you started eBirding--that lack effort information. This is the time to enter an "incidental" (renamed from "casual") list. You may or may not enter a complete list.
I've used incidental checklists when entering old year lists that listed only a new county bird for the year and location. I used an incidental list today. I was driving to a birding location and noted 35 Turkey Vultures on the way. I pulled over and used Bird Log to enter the exact location.
Some birders balk at creating multiple lists for one birding excursion, for instance, while doing a Christmas Bird Count or Migration Count or even a Big Day. However, when you think about it, you are really birding intensely at only a few discrete locations, and then you see a few other noteworthy birds en route that will be entered on individual incidental lists.
An old eBird article that uses the obsolete term "casual" observation is here:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/are-you-really-making-casual-observations.
The two main categories of effort-based lists are "Stationary" (you birded from a single location and didn't move more than 100 feet or so) and also a "Traveling" count. Traveling counts can be walked or driven (or both). Traveling counts are recommended to be 5 miles or less. If you change habitats, change to another checklist. On the other hand, if you are traveling through miles of identical habitat then it is not necessary to change checklists after 5 miles (think mono-species grasslands or pelagic trips). No eBird checklist should cross county borders. eBird Reviewers are instructed to weed out long trip lists that span county borders or multiple habitats. Thus, if you enter such lists the data will not be used in the maps and bar charts. But they will appear in your personal lists.
Sometimes, though, you see a noteworthy bird when you aren't birding. Or, you are entering sightings from years past--before you started eBirding--that lack effort information. This is the time to enter an "incidental" (renamed from "casual") list. You may or may not enter a complete list.
I've used incidental checklists when entering old year lists that listed only a new county bird for the year and location. I used an incidental list today. I was driving to a birding location and noted 35 Turkey Vultures on the way. I pulled over and used Bird Log to enter the exact location.
Some birders balk at creating multiple lists for one birding excursion, for instance, while doing a Christmas Bird Count or Migration Count or even a Big Day. However, when you think about it, you are really birding intensely at only a few discrete locations, and then you see a few other noteworthy birds en route that will be entered on individual incidental lists.
An old eBird article that uses the obsolete term "casual" observation is here:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/are-you-really-making-casual-observations.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Keep track of breeding birds
 |
| Yellow Warbler on nest. Malheur NWR, Oregon. May 25, 2009 by Greg Gillson. |
A bird on a nest, a bird carrying food to feed to nestlings, very recently fledged young that can't fly far, a bird feigning injury as a distraction display, a blackbird dive-bombing your head. All these are evidence of breeding birds.
As yet eBird doesn't have an output for showing breeding evidence. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't enter such notations. Breeding status may be shown in future update to eBird. However, you can request a download of your data that will show breeding, if you want to investigate your sightings in the future.
Why should you record breeding codes if eBird doesn't output that data yet? Well, for one, observing breeding behavior and searching for nesting evidence is fun! It makes you more aware of what the birds are doing.
For a list of breeding codes and meaning, and for more details, see the eBird page on breeding birds.
Other posts discussing nesting birds.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Accurately track distance and time
In September 2010 the eBird developers wrote: "As we develop eBird, we're continually walking the line between building
better tools that birders want to use, while maintaining our focus on
collecting useful scientific data in the process."
All data submitted to eBird is valuable. However, when you combine your bird list and species numbers seen with effort--distance traveled and time spent--you make eBird data the most valuable it can be. These effort-based observations allow eBird to make the frequency and abundance charts that are such an informative part of the "Explore Data" function of eBird.
Estimate how far you walked to the best of your ability. Keep track of when you start and stop. Add that to your bird list and you've got it! If it isn't convenient to do it every time you submit a checklist to eBird, just do it when you can--every little bit makes eBird data that much better!
For more information read the eBird post: Effort-based observations enable powerful data analysis.
All data submitted to eBird is valuable. However, when you combine your bird list and species numbers seen with effort--distance traveled and time spent--you make eBird data the most valuable it can be. These effort-based observations allow eBird to make the frequency and abundance charts that are such an informative part of the "Explore Data" function of eBird.
Estimate how far you walked to the best of your ability. Keep track of when you start and stop. Add that to your bird list and you've got it! If it isn't convenient to do it every time you submit a checklist to eBird, just do it when you can--every little bit makes eBird data that much better!
For more information read the eBird post: Effort-based observations enable powerful data analysis.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Add comments for rare birds
One of the great things about eBird is the data quality standard and review of unusual bird reports.
When submitting a checklist to eBird you are asked to verify unusual sightings. Perhaps there was a typo and you accidentally entered a high number or wrong species. However, don't just mark the checkbox verifying the entry is correct as you intended--give a reason.
You see, every time the automatic filters indicate you saw an unusually high number or unusual species, a real person reviews your list. Rather than waiting for the Reviewer to send you an email asking for more details, provide the details in the comments for any species that eBird flags as unusual. If you don't provide comments in your checklist and then don't respond to the eBird Reviewer's email request for more information, Reviewers have no choice but to invalidate your record.
Now it may be that the number you saw was just barely over the threshold, or the species is generally rare but your bird is a known rarity. In this case the Reviewer will simply verify your sighting from within eBird and your record gets accepted to the pubic database.
Whenever possible, the Reviewer is a local expert on the birds of the area. If they deem that your sighting is unusual enough, they will want more details. Plumage, behavior, habitat, songs and calls all help verify a locally rare species. Provide as much information as you can. Of course, digital photos are ubiquitous these days. Even a blurry photo from your camera-phone can help establish the identity of a species.
On the other hand, perhaps the species is expected, but in much lower numbers than you reported. Explain any reason for unusually high numbers.
Now the filter settings aren't perfect. The Reviewer is able to change the settings to more accurately reflect reality. If you think a species or high number is being flagged too sensitively, add a note to that effect to your comments as the Reviewer will read it. On the other hand, if you entered a bird you thought rare, but the filter accepted it without challenge, then you might also drop an email line to your Reviewer.
Reviewers are assigned by counties, though most reviewers are responsible for more than one county. They can help you with ID questions, status and distribution. They are a good resource for you to learn the local birds. They may suggest that you saw a more common bird. But remember, no one can change your records but you.
So, what happens if the Reviewer doesn't overturn the automatic filters and accept your report?
Firstly, the acceptance or not of a reported bird is not a reflection of you as a person or as a skilled birder. It doesn't mean you didn't actually see the bird you reported. It does mean that the bird was unexpected and you provided insufficient documentation to sway the decision. I have invalidated my own records when entering lists of birds from years long past because of lack of written details in my notes about an unlikely species.
Secondly, your list of species is always available to you, whether correctly identified or not, whether the Reviewer validated it or not. Remember, all records stay in the system and can be reviewed again. Invalidated records can be accepted and accepted birds can be reviewed and invalidated later.
What will happen though, is that your invalidated record will not appear on the public eBird maps and bar charts for abundance and frequency. Your records are available, though, to researchers, along with the Reviewer's comments, so they can make their own decisions.
I hope this provides some insight into the data quality of eBird and how providing comments on your checklist can save time and effort and help a Reviewer come to a good decision about flagged records.
More information:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/a-comment-about-comments
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/ebird-data-quality
http://ebird.org/content/wi/news/theimportanceofcomments
When submitting a checklist to eBird you are asked to verify unusual sightings. Perhaps there was a typo and you accidentally entered a high number or wrong species. However, don't just mark the checkbox verifying the entry is correct as you intended--give a reason.
You see, every time the automatic filters indicate you saw an unusually high number or unusual species, a real person reviews your list. Rather than waiting for the Reviewer to send you an email asking for more details, provide the details in the comments for any species that eBird flags as unusual. If you don't provide comments in your checklist and then don't respond to the eBird Reviewer's email request for more information, Reviewers have no choice but to invalidate your record.
Now it may be that the number you saw was just barely over the threshold, or the species is generally rare but your bird is a known rarity. In this case the Reviewer will simply verify your sighting from within eBird and your record gets accepted to the pubic database.
Whenever possible, the Reviewer is a local expert on the birds of the area. If they deem that your sighting is unusual enough, they will want more details. Plumage, behavior, habitat, songs and calls all help verify a locally rare species. Provide as much information as you can. Of course, digital photos are ubiquitous these days. Even a blurry photo from your camera-phone can help establish the identity of a species.
On the other hand, perhaps the species is expected, but in much lower numbers than you reported. Explain any reason for unusually high numbers.
Now the filter settings aren't perfect. The Reviewer is able to change the settings to more accurately reflect reality. If you think a species or high number is being flagged too sensitively, add a note to that effect to your comments as the Reviewer will read it. On the other hand, if you entered a bird you thought rare, but the filter accepted it without challenge, then you might also drop an email line to your Reviewer.
Reviewers are assigned by counties, though most reviewers are responsible for more than one county. They can help you with ID questions, status and distribution. They are a good resource for you to learn the local birds. They may suggest that you saw a more common bird. But remember, no one can change your records but you.
So, what happens if the Reviewer doesn't overturn the automatic filters and accept your report?
Firstly, the acceptance or not of a reported bird is not a reflection of you as a person or as a skilled birder. It doesn't mean you didn't actually see the bird you reported. It does mean that the bird was unexpected and you provided insufficient documentation to sway the decision. I have invalidated my own records when entering lists of birds from years long past because of lack of written details in my notes about an unlikely species.
Secondly, your list of species is always available to you, whether correctly identified or not, whether the Reviewer validated it or not. Remember, all records stay in the system and can be reviewed again. Invalidated records can be accepted and accepted birds can be reviewed and invalidated later.
What will happen though, is that your invalidated record will not appear on the public eBird maps and bar charts for abundance and frequency. Your records are available, though, to researchers, along with the Reviewer's comments, so they can make their own decisions.
I hope this provides some insight into the data quality of eBird and how providing comments on your checklist can save time and effort and help a Reviewer come to a good decision about flagged records.
More information:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/a-comment-about-comments
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/ebird-data-quality
http://ebird.org/content/wi/news/theimportanceofcomments
Monday, June 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Use the Hotspots
The concept of a "hotspot" in eBird is fairly simple and powerful, but sometimes eBirders are confused by exactly what it means and what it does.
A hotspot is simply a public birding area. It must be publicly accessible and a place where more than one birder frequents. It can be a park or refuge, a beach or wetlands--anywhere known to birders as a specific location to stop and watch birds. Note that it does not require the location to have lots of birds. In fact, it could be a place where birders stop for a single species.
All observations submitted by all observers at a hotspot are pooled, and you can view the weekly abundance and frequency bar charts for this one area just as you would for a state or county. Thus, to add to the data you would choose the hotspot off the map when submitting your list. You can then have these hotspots available in your "My locations" list of personal birding locations.
Be careful, though! If there is a hotspot for "Birder's Park," yet you create your own personal location in "Birder's Park," eBird does not combine them. This could happen if you were the first to submit a list to "Birder's Park" as a personal location, and someone later recommended it as a hotspot. Thus, if you bird a public area that is not already a hotspot, you should "recommend" the location be a hotspot when you submit your list.
If you find (by exploring data maps) that you have a personal location ("Birder's Park") but that there is also a public hotspot for the same area, you can edit and merge your checklists for that location into the hotspot. Here's how:
1) Go to "My eBird"
2) "Manage My Locations"
3) Find your location on the list of your locations and "Edit"
4) "Merge" with a location on the map
More on eBird hotspots.
A hotspot is simply a public birding area. It must be publicly accessible and a place where more than one birder frequents. It can be a park or refuge, a beach or wetlands--anywhere known to birders as a specific location to stop and watch birds. Note that it does not require the location to have lots of birds. In fact, it could be a place where birders stop for a single species.
All observations submitted by all observers at a hotspot are pooled, and you can view the weekly abundance and frequency bar charts for this one area just as you would for a state or county. Thus, to add to the data you would choose the hotspot off the map when submitting your list. You can then have these hotspots available in your "My locations" list of personal birding locations.
Be careful, though! If there is a hotspot for "Birder's Park," yet you create your own personal location in "Birder's Park," eBird does not combine them. This could happen if you were the first to submit a list to "Birder's Park" as a personal location, and someone later recommended it as a hotspot. Thus, if you bird a public area that is not already a hotspot, you should "recommend" the location be a hotspot when you submit your list.
If you find (by exploring data maps) that you have a personal location ("Birder's Park") but that there is also a public hotspot for the same area, you can edit and merge your checklists for that location into the hotspot. Here's how:
1) Go to "My eBird"
2) "Manage My Locations"
3) Find your location on the list of your locations and "Edit"
4) "Merge" with a location on the map
More on eBird hotspots.
Friday, May 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Bird different places
We previously discussed birding the same area repeatedly throughout the year, and how beneficial that is to eBird data completeness and accuracy.
Birders are creatures of habit, though, and often bird the same places over and over, ignoring other areas. For instance, there are several lowland parks and wetlands in my local county that receive several eBirder visits weekly. But the Coast Range forest is visited much less frequently--primarily in early summer when certain warblers and flycatchers are present. Resident birds such as American Dipper and Gray Jay are very under-reported, making them appear more rare than they really are.
Here are 3 ideas to bird different places:
1) Visit new areas in your home county or anywhere where you haven't birded before. Randomly stop on a trip and make a 5-10 minute survey.
2) Look at eBird bar chart maps of birds in your county. Look for locations where no birds have been located--even though you know they live there. Then go birding there!
3) Bird areas at times of year when not normally visited by bird watchers. Nothing exciting there during that time of year? It doesn't matter. Negative data is recorded by eBird and makes data more accurate. And who knows, you may find there is a good bird there after all.
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, eBird county birding and Fill in the gaps (January 2012), and Fill in the gaps (April 2012).
Read all posts about eBird
Birders are creatures of habit, though, and often bird the same places over and over, ignoring other areas. For instance, there are several lowland parks and wetlands in my local county that receive several eBirder visits weekly. But the Coast Range forest is visited much less frequently--primarily in early summer when certain warblers and flycatchers are present. Resident birds such as American Dipper and Gray Jay are very under-reported, making them appear more rare than they really are.
Here are 3 ideas to bird different places:
1) Visit new areas in your home county or anywhere where you haven't birded before. Randomly stop on a trip and make a 5-10 minute survey.
2) Look at eBird bar chart maps of birds in your county. Look for locations where no birds have been located--even though you know they live there. Then go birding there!
3) Bird areas at times of year when not normally visited by bird watchers. Nothing exciting there during that time of year? It doesn't matter. Negative data is recorded by eBird and makes data more accurate. And who knows, you may find there is a good bird there after all.
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, eBird county birding and Fill in the gaps (January 2012), and Fill in the gaps (April 2012).
Read all posts about eBird
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Bird the same place
By repeating surveys of the same area throughout the year you build up an accurate abundance bar chart. eBird's bar charts have a resolution of one week--four weeks assigned to each month.
Every time you bird your favorite birding area, you add to the accuracy of the bird list in that location. Additionally, you increase accuracy of frequency and abundance for the county, state, and country.
Other ideas for repeated bird counts:
Keep track of birds out the window at your bird feeder for 10 or 15 minutes, and do so several times during same day. Each time you look is a different stationary count.
Occasionally, I take the dog for a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood on the same route.
Get out of the office! Take a lunchtime walk at work and keep track of what you see.
If you have a special place that you bird every week or more often, then you may want to consider a special eBird Site Survey.
Read all posts about eBird
Every time you bird your favorite birding area, you add to the accuracy of the bird list in that location. Additionally, you increase accuracy of frequency and abundance for the county, state, and country.
Other ideas for repeated bird counts:
Keep track of birds out the window at your bird feeder for 10 or 15 minutes, and do so several times during same day. Each time you look is a different stationary count.
Occasionally, I take the dog for a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood on the same route.
Get out of the office! Take a lunchtime walk at work and keep track of what you see.
If you have a special place that you bird every week or more often, then you may want to consider a special eBird Site Survey.
Read all posts about eBird
Sunday, March 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Keep locations separate and small
One of the key features of eBird is the ability to map birds by precise location. Thus, each time you change locations or habitats it is best to start a new list. Locations can be as small as you want. In general, traveling lists should be less than 5 miles. Carry a notebook and keep track of these smaller birding locations, and remember to record birding time and distance!
Instead of trip lists, divide your birding into discrete units. You may even want to divide up larger birding areas into discrete areas as well. For instance, Malheur NWR with 50 miles between some locations should be broken into smaller birding units. Separate your birding lists into Headquarters, The Narrows, Buena Vista, Benson Pond, P Ranch, Page Springs, Frenchglen, Diamond, Round Barn, etc. Any unusual species seen while traveling between stops can be recorded as a "Casual Observation," located exactly where you saw them.
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, Location! Location! Location!.
Read all posts about eBird
Instead of trip lists, divide your birding into discrete units. You may even want to divide up larger birding areas into discrete areas as well. For instance, Malheur NWR with 50 miles between some locations should be broken into smaller birding units. Separate your birding lists into Headquarters, The Narrows, Buena Vista, Benson Pond, P Ranch, Page Springs, Frenchglen, Diamond, Round Barn, etc. Any unusual species seen while traveling between stops can be recorded as a "Casual Observation," located exactly where you saw them.
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, Location! Location! Location!.
Read all posts about eBird
Saturday, February 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Count the birds
Take your eBirding to the next level--count the numbers of individual birds you see.
Counts of individual birds help eBird's bar charts, abundance graphs, and frequency graphs be more accurate and, in fact, exist at all.
You don't have to be exact. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000... If you are in the correct order of magnitude, these estimates are better than X, which is what you use when you don't count. [Please remember that X is correct when you don't count. Don't enter 1 for each species when you mean X.]
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, The trouble with 'X'.
Read all posts about eBird
Counts of individual birds help eBird's bar charts, abundance graphs, and frequency graphs be more accurate and, in fact, exist at all.
You don't have to be exact. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000... If you are in the correct order of magnitude, these estimates are better than X, which is what you use when you don't count. [Please remember that X is correct when you don't count. Don't enter 1 for each species when you mean X.]
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, The trouble with 'X'.
Read all posts about eBird
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
eBird best practices
Enter Complete Checklists
Note: For the past year I have been trying to convince you, no matter your skill level, to use eBird to record your bird sightings (Here is a link to bring up all my posts related to eBird). This citizen science project unites birders around the world and in your local community. I challenge you to try it just once--enter a list of birds from your next bird trip.
If you start, or already are, using eBird, there are practices you can use to make your data more useful to science, and thus help the birds themselves. For the remainder of the year, I will present a monthly recommendation of eBird best practices. Below is the first one.
The most useful checklist to submit to eBird is the Complete Checklist.
eBird asks: "Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you saw/heard?"
Record every species seen and heard--even common ones.
When you select the Complete Checklist, eBird is then able to compute accurate range maps and bird frequency (how many checklists report that species during that particular week). For instance, if you select Complete Checklist and do not have American Robin on your list, eBird knows that you did not see any--not just that you didn't feel them interesting or unusual enough to write down.
Entering lots of complete checklists doesn't necessarily mean that a person spends any more time birding than you do now. Got 5-10 minutes to observe birds at your feeder? How about doing so more than once during the day? Did you take a 20 minute dog walk or jog today and note any birds? Can you take 15 minutes out of your lunch time to watch birds anywhere? If you record all birds seen during these short time periods, you'll find there are numerous opportunities during each day to submit complete checklists.
All of these data are useful and add to the knowledge of status and distribution of birds. In fact, we know a lot more about birds at wildlife refuges and parks than we know about birds in residential neighborhoods or towns. Your complete checklists--even if only 5-10 minutes--in such areas are likely to add more new bird information than your weekend visit to the local birding hotspot.
In September 2011 I checked the number of eBirders in Oregon submitting the most complete checklists. There were 69 birders submitting at least 1 checklist per week, on average, over the whole year of 2011. Of these, one-third were averaging 1 checklist every other day, or 3-1/2 checklists per week. Combined with hundreds of others submitting far less often it all adds up. In September 2011, Oregon eBirders submitted over 1600 complete checklists. Remember, eBird is worldwide. Just think how much information on bird status and distribution is being gathered by eBird!
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, Are you reporting all species?
If you start, or already are, using eBird, there are practices you can use to make your data more useful to science, and thus help the birds themselves. For the remainder of the year, I will present a monthly recommendation of eBird best practices. Below is the first one.
The most useful checklist to submit to eBird is the Complete Checklist.
eBird asks: "Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you saw/heard?"
Record every species seen and heard--even common ones.
When you select the Complete Checklist, eBird is then able to compute accurate range maps and bird frequency (how many checklists report that species during that particular week). For instance, if you select Complete Checklist and do not have American Robin on your list, eBird knows that you did not see any--not just that you didn't feel them interesting or unusual enough to write down.
Entering lots of complete checklists doesn't necessarily mean that a person spends any more time birding than you do now. Got 5-10 minutes to observe birds at your feeder? How about doing so more than once during the day? Did you take a 20 minute dog walk or jog today and note any birds? Can you take 15 minutes out of your lunch time to watch birds anywhere? If you record all birds seen during these short time periods, you'll find there are numerous opportunities during each day to submit complete checklists.
All of these data are useful and add to the knowledge of status and distribution of birds. In fact, we know a lot more about birds at wildlife refuges and parks than we know about birds in residential neighborhoods or towns. Your complete checklists--even if only 5-10 minutes--in such areas are likely to add more new bird information than your weekend visit to the local birding hotspot.
In September 2011 I checked the number of eBirders in Oregon submitting the most complete checklists. There were 69 birders submitting at least 1 checklist per week, on average, over the whole year of 2011. Of these, one-third were averaging 1 checklist every other day, or 3-1/2 checklists per week. Combined with hundreds of others submitting far less often it all adds up. In September 2011, Oregon eBirders submitted over 1600 complete checklists. Remember, eBird is worldwide. Just think how much information on bird status and distribution is being gathered by eBird!
More information on this topic can be found on the eBird site, Are you reporting all species?
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