A Tip for Faster Data Entry

1. During Step 3 of entering your bird data, put your cursor in the "Jump to Species" box in the upper right part of the screen.

2. Type the 4-letter code of your species and hit Enter. You may need to hit Enter again to register the species (we're not sure why but sometimes it takes two hits...regardless it's quick). This will take you to that species at the bottom of your screen.

3. Next simply enter your number for that species.

4. Then, all you need to do is hit the "J" button on your keyboard and it will take you back to the Jump to Species box.

5. And repeat the process.

This is a major time saver as you don't need to take your hands off the keyboard to enter your whole species list. And you don't need to scroll around looking for the species you've irregularly listed in your field notebook.

Some more notes on the technique:

-- Can't find your species? It may be a "rare bird' for that month and you'll need to check the "Add Rarities" box. Or, you may have gotten the 4-letter code wrong - try http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/manual/speclist.cfm for reference.

-- Don't like the species codes? You can also start typing the species name in the Jump to Species box and it will find the species for you, although you won't save as much time.

-- This will work for lists that are either taxonomically or alphabetically listed.

-- For other time-saving tips, click on the "Shortcuts" link on the right panel of your screen during Step 3 of entering a checklist.

The main eBird page has many tutorials for doing things better and faster. We're not sure they've come out with one for their new data entry interface, but here's an old one that may be helpful:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/ebird-tricks-and-tips
 
Got other ideas for faster eBird data entry? Email them to wiebird@gmail.com and we'll share some with your fellow eBird users.