Nouveautés et articles
Top eBird Contributors for 2011
We'd like to thank the top eBird checklist contributors for 2011. The following list includes those Canadian individuals and organizations who have entered or uploaded more than 1200 eBird checklists in 2011. Toronto Ornithological Club--8965; Michael B. Lancaster--6129; Thomas Ouchterlony--5083; Wayne Weber--3358; Ted Hillary--2982; Christian Artuso--2796; Ian Cruickshank--2616; Tyler Hoar--1961; Vic Reimer--1695; Derrick Marven--1680; Jean-Sébastien Guénette--1647; Donald Sutherland--1621; Jan Roseneder--1617; Robert Laker--1460; John Reynolds--1407; Marc Boisvert--1407; Kevin Seymour--1397; Patrick Mooney--1351; Christopher Harris--1308. And thanks to all 1885 Canadian contributors who have entered eBird checklists in 2011!
Taxonomic update -- August 2011
We are pleased to announce that the August 2011 taxonomic update for eBird has now been fully implemented. World-traveling eBirders should have gained some new species on your life lists since dozens of splits in Asia, South America, and Africa are included in this update; please read on below for details. Please check your records carefully (especially "splits") and let us know if you notice anything that seems amiss. eBirders should use Avibase to help understand the different names and taxonomies used by eBird (and Clements), the IOC, Howard and Moore, and others. Just type a bird name into the search and Avibase shows all the names and populations that it could represent. Below we document all the significant changes for this taxonomic update.
eBird surpasses 3 million observations submitted in a single month!
With your help, eBird reached a new milestone this May, gathering 3,067,344 bird observations over the course of the month! And 215,853--almost a quarter million--of those sightings came from Canada. Achieving our highest monthly total isn't just a fun anecdote though, it also means more data for science and conservation, and more data to share with birders around the world. As more birders begin to use eBird, our ability to deliver real-time information to the birding community improves, and the tools that we've developed work better. As data volume increases, it helps shape the direction of future eBird development. Most importantly, continued growth improves our ability to protect birds and biodiversity by getting your data into the hands of conservationists and scientists around the world. Thanks to eBirders everywhere for making May 2011 our biggest month ever--and keep birding this summer!
Taxonomic update -- January 2011
We are pleased to announce that the January 2011 taxonomic update for eBird has now been fully implemented. Most eBirders should have gained some new species on your life lists and state lists, especially North American birders who have seen both the eastern and western forms of Winter Wren and Whip-poor-will. Dozens of other splits in Asia, South America, and elsewhere are also included in this update, so please read on below for details. Now that eBird is a worldwide project, taxonomy updates are a much more complicated process. Please check your records carefully and let us know if you notice anything that seems amiss. Below we document all the significant changes for this taxonomic update.
Printable eBird field checklists now available from Avibase
Many of our eBird contributors probably already know about Avibase, a website maintained (in his own spare time!) by Bird Studies Canada scientist Denis Lepage that offers a wealth of information about bird taxonomy, and checklists from around the world in a variety of formats. Avibase has recently launched a new feature that will prove useful to eBird participants--printable field checklists in eBird format. This tool provides a printable PDF version of any checklist available on Avibase, which can be used during your field excursions or your travels anywhere around the world. The checklists also provide space to record date and effort information for 10 locations, facilitating eBird data entry when you get back to the computer. Read more.
New Canadian species at risk assessments
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) met in Ottawa in November to consider a number of new candidates for at-risk status, as well as re-assessing some of the species already listed on the federal Species at Risk Act. The birds discussed at this meeting were Barn Owl, White-headed Woodpecker, Sage Thrasher and Cerulean Warbler, and all were being reassessed. For more details, click the headline link.
Featured eBirder: Russell Cannings
Our latest featured eBirder is Russell Cannings of Penticton, BC. Russell has led the Canadian eBird charts all year as he traveled British Columbia in his efforts to break the record for most species seen in that province in one year. He's reached that mark and more--read on for more exciting news!
Ron Pittaway's Winter Finch Forecast 2010-2011
Team eBird is pleased to once again host Ron Pittaway's Winter Finch Forecast. While the focus of this piece is on Ontario, we believe it has interest to a wider audience. From Ron: This winter's theme is that some finch species will irrupt into southern Canada and the northern United States, while other species will remain in the north. As an example, Common and Hoary Redpolls will move south whereas Pine Grosbeaks will stay in the north. See individual finch forecasts below for details. Three irruptive non-finch passerines are also discussed.
Featured eBirder: André Desrochers
Our newest featured eBirder is André Desrochers. As you can see from the totals in the Top Contributors feature, he is one of our most active participants. An ornithologist studying Canada's forest birds, André is also a keen birder and has taken full advantage of eBird's recent move to global coverage. For his side of the story, click on the headline link.
eBird Global now beta-testing
We're happy to announce that eBird is now officially available for data entry worldwide! In early June we quietly enabled global data entry, and so far we've gathered data on nearly 8000 species from 176 countries! Pull out your notes from past trips abroad and help us beta-test the new data entry functionality. We've also developed a new mapping tool that we call 'eBird Range Maps'. These maps show species' ranges worldwide, and we welcome your feedback on those. We're currently working with new partners to develop better checklists and data quality filters for countries around the world. Send us general feedback on how things are working (email us at ebird@cornell.edu). Are your lists correct? Was the checklist usable? Your comments will help us make things better as we move forward with this monumental task.
eBird Canada now has county and district lists!
After a couple of years of technical difficulties and other unforeseen delays, we are happy to announce that eBird Canada now has county and district layers in all parts of its operations. This will make mapping a new location easier and will allow data analysis and listing at the county/district level. For more information, click the headline link or photo!
Dendroica--a new bird identification training program
There is a new educational tool to help us all increase our bird identification skills--both sight and sound. Dendroica is a web-based program that allows you to browse bird images, songs and calls, then test your knowledge through quizzes. For more information, click on the headline link.
Andrew Slater--featured eBirder
Our latest featured eBirder is Andrew Slater of Calgary. Andrew is the eBird regional editor for Alberta and has been a keen contributor since eBird Canada began. He also enjoys birding while travelling and has submitted many checklists from Mexico and Central America.
Ted Hillary: featured eBirder
We are instituting a new feature on eBird Canada—the eBirder of the month. The goal is to highlight how an individual is using eBird to inspire others to follow in their footsteps. One does not need to be a well-traveled or expert birder to be featured. Anyone who uses eBird is eligible, provided she or he understands the overarching goals of eBird and is committed to using the program regularly and properly. The first eBirder to be featured is Ted Hillary of Salmon Arm, BC. Click the headline link to read more about Ted and his dedication to eBird.
Be an eBird rep--give an eBird talk to your birding friends
As eBird Project Leaders, we would like nothing more than to be able to visit each corner of the Western Hemisphere to provide a 'hands-on' eBird experience for local groups (and to do some birding!). We've found that one-on-one contact with potential users, as well as through giving eBird presentations to target audiences, can really help eBird become established locally. But the reality is that there are many more local birding organizations than we could ever hope to visit in person. To remedy this we've made an eBird PowerPoint presentation available to our users so that they can help spread the eBird word at the local level. The presentation is available here.
New tool for finding recent sightings of interest
Bird Studies Canada has just released a new tool within eBird Canada which shows the location of all the recent sightings of interest across the country. Birdwatchers can now find out quickly by looking at a map whether there were any interesting birds reported in their area over the last couple of weeks. To use this new tool, visit http://ebird.ca/sightings.jsp. We also encourage you to report your own sightings, and be part of the eBird community.
New Feature--eBird Checklist Sharing!
Do you have a group of birding friends that are all devoted eBird users? Has it been frustrating that each of you has to enter your joint birdwalks into eBird separately? We are very excited to release eBird Checklist Sharing, which now allows you to copy checklists to another user’s account with the click of a mouse. From now on, when you go birding with friends you can designate who will be keeping the list and that person can enter the eBird list for the group. That checklist can be shared with the group using just an email address or eBird username. And once a checklist has been shared, you can add or delete species observed so that the list represents just what YOU saw. Read on for more information.
AviSys Export to eBird Launched!
We're pleased to announce that Jerry Blinn has launched a new AviSys utility that allows users to export records to eBird. We have worked closely with Jerry on this process over the past 18 months. He has been dedicated to making sure that AviSys users not only can export their data to eBird, but that they also have the tools available in AviSys to make their observations more valuable by adding associated effort information to each birding outing. We thank Jerry for his hard work on this, and we'd like to extend a big WELCOME to AviSys users everywhere!
New Location Management Tools Launched!
When eBird started in 2002 we didn't have the technology to allow you to select a location from a map for data entry (we do now--hooray!). Because of that it was harder to be aware of existing eBird hotspots, and many users created their own versions of these places. We've been asked for a long time to rectify this by creating tools that will allow you to merge your personal locations, and all associated data, with existing eBird hotspots. We've recently upgraded the "Manage My Locations" option found under "My eBird" to allow for this, along with a suite of other useful data management tools. Now you can easily combine your data from a duplicate personal location with eBird hotspots so that it can be shared by all.
About our photographers
eBird Canada would like to thank the photographers who provided the fabulous images for the banners at the top of each web page and throughout the website. The Snowy Owl photo was taken by Gord Court, the Mourning Warbler by Ron Ridout, the Dusky Grouse by Laure Neish, the Christmas Bird Counter by Dick Cannings and the flying Brant and Rufous Hummingbird by Ralph Hocken. You can enjoy more of Ralph's stunning bird images at this address and see Laure's full portfolio at this address.
