Birding News and Features
EZBird--enter eBird checklists by email!
One of the most frequent requests we get from eBirders is for a way to make data entry easier and quicker. We have done our best to develop new quicker ways to enter data and to publicize new and quicker ways that others have developed. To that end, we are excited to announce the release of EZBird, which allows you to create an uploadable file just by sending a formatted email message. You can even submit directly to eBird, which makes it possible to use your handheld or smartphone to enter sightings from the field.
eBird is for Every Birder
Occasionally we hear about birders who tried eBird once, but then did not return because they felt they were not qualified to contribute, or that eBird caters only to “expert” birders. This is not the case at all! At eBird we believe that all bird observations have value. You need not be a globetrotting expert—some of the most valuable checklists are repeated observations from people who have never looked for birds outside their own backyard! You need not know every bird that flashes through your binoculars either, the eBird data quality process guards against many potential identification errors. Furthermore, the exchange of information between experts and beginners during this process is a valuable learning tool. We want eBird to be used by birders of all skill levels: our only request is that you try to use eBird to its fullest capacity, report the birds you see and hear to the best of your ability, and err on the conservative side if you are unsure about your identification.
“Ptarmigan pioneers island-hop in Aleutians”
ATTU—Crawling through long grass with a set of wire cutters clenched in his teeth, Clait Braun extended a long fiberglass pole toward a ptarmigan. Adjusting for gusts of wind, Braun eased a small wire noose over the bird’s lower neck, then tugged. A few seconds later, he cradled a flapping ptarmigan in his hands.
“He’s a big, strong, chunky bird,” Braun said as he tucked the ptarmigan inside a white cotton bag. “Really good body mass. I love it.”
The flight of the Kanuti whimbrel
Bob Gill had to look twice at his computer the other day. The two birds he was tracking in Alaska via Google Earth had veered off the lower right corner of the computer screen.
Those birds, whimbrels that Gill and others had captured and fitted with a satellite transmitter in the heart of Interior Alaska about a month before, had migrated out of the state by mid-July. The birds leapt into the air from western Alaska and caught tailwinds down south. One bird was winging its way over the ocean west of San Francisco, and the other was in Mexico.
