PA eBird Presentation Ready to Roll!

The PA eBird project is a partnership between the PA Game Commission, Audubon Pennsylvania, PA Society for Ornithology (PSO), and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (CLO).  The CLO team has developed an eBird presentation that we have adapted to our state. This is an opportunity for members of bird clubs and Audubon Chapters to teach others how to use eBird and keep good bird records.  In addition to the regular birding audiences, consider introducing eBird to school groups, scout troops, senior centers, or any other audience that might be interested. 

The mission of eBird is “To gather, archive and disseminate observational data recorded by birders to better understand distribution, abundance, and factors affecting birds on a hemispheric scale.”  The partners listed above have the common interest in monitoring bird populations and habitats.   eBird provides an easy way to record your observations, keep track of your records, and contribute to our common knowledge of birds.  

eBird offers many exciting features that allow people to keep personal bird records and visual these records on-line.   You can keep track of arrival and departure dates of each species, comparing data from various locations and years.  The eBird “bar charts” or “phenograms” are histograms that show bird seasonal occurrence graphically in a format anyone can understand.  eBird’s geo-locating capabilities allow the observer to pin-point where an observation took place.  This strongly connects the bird to the habitat and the local landscape.  This is just the sort of feature that is so important for people’s personal lists and our common interest in keeping track of where our birds are found, including and especially the state’s Important Bird Areas.

Did you ever wonder how to add field notes or check entries?  The new eBird presentation shows how to do this.  One of the most useful features of eBird is the ability to import and export data.  So, if you have bird records stored in a spreadsheet, database, or a commercial bird records program, you should be able to transfer data to and from eBird.  Of course, the many tools that eBird offers are best learned from personal experience, but this presentation gives a nice introduction to some of the most important features. 

Each record submitted to eBird undergoes some level of review and verification.   The quality of the database must be checked to maintain its integrity.  So, behind the scenes, data are screened through filters and data editors contact contributors about records that seem out of the ordinary.  This can pertain to numbers as well as species identification.  Not only do people make mistakes of omission and commission in the field, but also make basic data and typing errors.   We appreciate it when observers add notes in that field when the bird species (or number of birds) is considered rare or unusual for a site or that time of year.  

To get a copy of the new PA eBird presentation please contact Doug Gross of the Pennsylvania Game Commission (see below) or Brian Byrnes, Important Bird Area Coordinator, Audubon Pennsylvania, 1201 Pawlings Road, Audubon, PA  19403; (610) 666-5593 ext. 106; bbyrnes@audubon.org

Contributed by Douglas A. Gross, Endangered Bird Specialist, Pennsylvania Game Commission, PA eBird and PSO Special Areas Project, 144 Winters Road, Orangeville, PA  17859  Phone: 570-458-4109. E-mail: dogross@state.pa.us

Cover picture by Brian Byrnes.