http://ebird.org/content/ny daily 1 2008-03-14T17:41:23Z http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/bird-new-sites-and-help-advance-migratory-bird-conservation-this-spring We are seeking experienced volunteer birders who would be available to monitor specific sites this spring, going out at least 3 times over the course of the 5-6 week migration. We will work with your schedule to find sites and sampling periods that work for you. It doesn't matter if you have never participated in a citizen science effort before - training will be provided. Some money is available to cover volunteer travel expenses associated with this study. No publisher carena 2010-02-15T19:45:26Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/nysoa-launches-searchable-ornithological-data-base In January the New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA) announced a terrific new resource for ornithologists, students, and birders. The Kingbird, NYSOA’s quarterly ornithological journal, has been in print since 1950. Now anyone can go online and search a database of 57 years of The Kingbird free of charge. Being able to find specific information quickly with a computer will save researchers the countless hours of work that were previously necessary when sifting through hundreds of paper issues of The Kingbird. This unique research and educational resource, which can be found at www.nybirds.org/KBsearch.htm, clearly demonstrates NYSOA’s commitment to its mission to “further the study of bird life and to disseminate knowledge thereof.” No publisher carena 2010-02-15T18:58:02Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/ebird-birds-of-north-america-online In appreciation for all those who have participated in the eBird effort for the past year, we are pleased to offer special full subscriptions to the acclaimed bird life history resource: Birds of North America Online. This comprehensive resource includes information on distribution, breeding, migration, habitats, and behavior for over 700 different species of birds that breed in Canada and the United States. The accounts include photos and audio selections for all species covered. No publisher chris.wood 2009-12-16T20:38:18Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/BirdsEye “BirdsEye is the best invention for birding since binoculars,” says Kenn Kaufman, renowned birder, author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America and team member of a partnership that has created BirdsEye, a new birding app for the iPhone® and iPod touch®. “It’s like having thousands of local birding experts in your pocket,” Kaufman says. The application was developed by Birds in the Hand, LLC, of Virginia, and brings together content from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Kaufman. BirdsEye is now available on the App Store℠. No publisher bls42 2009-12-16T20:38:18Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/two-new-ways-to-make-your-birding-count From its inception, the grand hypothesis of eBird has been that the observations of birders can make a valuable contribution to understanding broad-scale patterns of bird distribution and abundance. With its vast geographic scope and dedicated contributors, eBird has a growing capacity to help answer questions about birds at scales never before imaginable. As the eBird dataset continues to mature, scientists are just beginning to explore and tap its potential. Early results are promising, and thanks to our close working relationship with talented computer scientists and biologists, we’ve identified two ways that you can help greatly improve the utility of the eBird dataset. Read more by clicking the image at right. No publisher bls42 2009-12-16T20:38:19Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/exposing-of-ebird-species-comments eBird has two comments fields that can be used however you choose. Checklist comments can be personal comments on the day, where you went, or what the weather was like, and this is also a great place for personal notes. The second field, species comments, is very useful for providing additional detail on the rare birds you see, helping others to find a bird you discover, or generally for providing more information on specific sightings within a checklist. Team eBird is committed to making eBird data as useful as possible and as we develop new ways to push eBird data out to birders, this free text field will become increasingly important. However, since everyone may use this field differently, we wanted to give a heads up. Starting in a few weeks, we plan to make your species comments available through new output tools (not the checklist comments) along with the date, location, and count of species you observe. No publisher marshall.iliff 2009-12-16T20:38:19Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/all_birders 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. No publisher mji26 2009-12-16T20:38:19Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/ebird-tricks-and-tips We often hear from birders who use eBird that they'd like to use it more, but that they just "don't have the time". We know your time is valuable, and that’s why eBird has been working hard to make data entry easier than ever. Whether you’re an existing user or someone who is still considering contributing, the following tips can help you significantly streamline your data entry process. Even with extensive checklist comments, you should be able to enter any checklist in 3-5 minutes (OK, maybe 7 if you live in Panama and see 125 species per outing!). Three of the biggest time savers are in bold italics. No publisher mji26 2009-12-16T20:38:19Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/location_specificity Exactly where you plot your birding locations on the map is critical for eBird in many ways. When you are specific with your location information we can perform better analyses, and we can ensure that your birding lists are built correctly. eBird thrives on location specificity, and a good general rule of thumb when entering data is that it's always better to enter shorter checklists from more refined locations than longer checklists from a string of unrelated locations. In this article we'll discuss why being as precise as possible with your birding locations yields the best results. No publisher bls42 2009-12-16T20:38:18Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/new-ms-excel-tool-to-simplify-data-upload We’re excited to announce a new tool for submitting your checklists to eBird. Jay Packer, one of our industrious eBird users created a tool to help upload checklists from Microsoft Excel--a tool that he’s appropriately named eBird Express. By writing code into an Excel template, Jay provides multiple levels of error-checking that will help you avoid any complications when uploading data to eBird. NOTE: If you are not familiar with Excel, this tool may not help you much. If you do use Excel, this tool helps to allow your bulk uploads to swiftly and easily upload to eBird without a hitch. No publisher Marshall Iliff, Chris Wood, Brian Sullivan, Jay Packer. 2009-12-16T20:38:17Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/subspecies-in-eBird Most species names in eBird are easily found with a glance at your field guide, but eBird also allows entry of a number of other birds (sometimes we call them 'taxa') whose names do not appear in any guides. These break down into three main groups: hybrids, spuhs, and subspecies groups. Hybrids all have the word "hybrid" in the name (e.g., Mallard x Gadwall (hybrid)) and all spuhs either have a "sp." (e.g., scoter sp.) or slash (e.g., Greater/Lesser Scaup) in the name. The subspecies groups, such as "Herring Gull (American)", are more complicated and explained in this article. No publisher mji26 2009-12-16T20:38:17Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/copy_of_trouble_with_X Over the years at eBird we have always been flexible about allowing users to report either numbers for each species, or to provide an 'X' to indicate presence. In our latest round of analysis, however, we found that checklists where users estimated numbers for ALL species encountered were of significantly higher conservation value when compared with those that contain 'Xs', or even a single 'X' mixed in with numbers. In this piece we'll talk about why recording numbers is important, as well as provide some guidance as to how to estimate numbers in difficult situations. Read more about why making your best estimate of numbers always trumps the dreaded 'X'! No publisher bls42 2009-12-16T20:38:19Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/trouble_with_X Over the years at eBird we have always been flexible about allowing users to report either numbers for each species, or to provide an 'X' to indicate presence. In our latest round of analysis, however, we found that checklists where users estimated numbers for ALL species encountered were of significantly higher conservation value when compared with those that contain 'Xs', or even a single 'X' mixed in with numbers. In this piece we'll talk about why recording numbers is important, as well as provide some guidance as to how to estimate numbers in difficult situations. Read more about why making your best estimate of numbers always trumps the dreaded 'X'! No publisher bls42 2009-12-16T20:38:17Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/the-second-atlas-of-breeding-birds-in-new-york-state-2013-published by Kimberley Corwin What a time for celebration for New York’s birders! The long-awaited volume, The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State, edited by Kevin J. McGowan and Kimberley Corwin, is published. As copies of the book make their way into the hands of birders across the state, such exuberant words such as these from Angus Wilson have been heard: “This morning the [book] landed on my doorstep with a resounding thump! At 696 pages, it is much heftier and more solidly produced than I was expecting. Clearly, the book is a treasure-trove of information and of considerable interest to all NYS birders.” No publisher carena 2009-12-16T20:38:17Z Feature http://ebird.org/content/ny/news/report-on-the-twelfth-annual-muckrace 74 birders participated in the twelfth annual Montezuma Muckrace, held Friday and Saturday, September 12-13, at the Montezuma Wetlands Complex in Cayuga, Wayne, and Seneca counties. The 20 teams tallied 186 species during the 24-hour event, only two fewer than the record 188 species recorded in 2006, up from 177 in 2007. In contrast to last year’s drought and low water levels, this year’s challenge was the generally high water throughout the Complex. Friday’s more-or-less continuous rain did not bode well for participants, but shortly before the start time of 8PM, the rain stopped, and dry but extremely humid conditions prevailed for the 24-hours of the event. No publisher carena 2009-12-16T20:38:20Z Feature