Australia

The 20 minute, 2 hectare survey, originally developed by Richard Loyn (Corella 10:58-60 January 1986) is a standard in Australian birding. The survey technique was the backbone of Birds Australia’s influential second atlas of Australian birds, and analysis of the data from 20-min-2ha surveys underpins various important conservation assessments including the State of Australia’s Birds Report, Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) bird monitoring, and a range of regional and local conservation initiatives.

We are therefore delighted to announce that bird surveys conducted using the 20-min-2ha survey can now be entered into eBird Australia, along with two other standard BirdLife Australia survey protocols, the 500m and 5km radius searches. No double entry into eBird Australia and BirdLife Australia’s Birdata online portal is required. In fact it is strongly discouraged.

Data entered in this way will be passed onto BirdLife Australia at quarterly intervals. If you are a registered Birdata user, your data will be fully integrated into Birdata. There are plans to make this transfer of data seamless in the future. By virtue of being entered via eBird, your data will also be instantly available to birders, researchers and environmental managers around the country and all over the world, where they can be put to work immediately for conservation.

On eBird these protocols can only be entered through the AUSTRALIAN portal, so please ensure you are logged in at http://ebird.org/australia. The protocols cannot currently be accessed through the mobile eBird app, but you could use the app with a different protocol and then update the protocol on the checklists via the website as soon as they are uploaded.

The BirdLife Australia protocols are accessed by selecting “Other” under “Observation type”, when you submit an eBird checklist, and then choosing the appropriate protocol from the list.

The three protocols are:

1. BirdLife Australia 20min-2ha survey

The 20min-2ha survey is BirdLife Australia’s preferred method for general Atlassing and involves searching a two hectare area for 20 minutes. Ideally the area represents one habitat type only. The two hectare survey area could be any shape such as a rectangle of 100m x 200m, a circle with a radius of 80m, or a strip 400m long and 50 wide. If possible, count all individuals of all species heard or seen within the two hectare survey area including birds flying over the area, but not individuals heard or seen outside the survey area. If possible the survey site should be revisited regularly. See full description of protocol here.

The following information is required for this protocol:

• Date
• Start time
• Duration (enter 20 minutes)
• Area (enter 2 hectares)
• The number of people doing the survey
• It has to be a complete checklist, so you must answer “Yes” to the question “Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you were able to identify?” when you submit the checklist

2. BirdLife Australia 500m radius search

The 500m radius search is designed to offer an observer more flexibility than the 2ha search. The survey area can be any shape and size within a 500m radius from a central point and surveys can take from a minimum of 20 minutes to many hours, as required. If possible, count all individuals of all species heard or seen within the survey area including birds flying over the area, but not individuals heard or seen outside the survey area. See full description of protocol here.

The following information is required for this protocol:

• Date
• Start time
• Duration (cannot be less than 20 minutes)
• The number of people doing the survey
• It has to be a complete checklist, so you must answer “Yes” to the question “Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you were able to identify?” when you submit the checklist

3. BirdLife Australia 5 km radius search

The 5km radius area search is similar to the 500m radius area search, but covers a larger area. The area searched should extend beyond 500m, but is within 5km from a central point. The survey area can be any shape and surveys can take from 20 minutes to many hours, as required. If possible, count all individuals of all species heard or seen within the survey area including birds flying over the area, but not individuals heard or seen outside the survey area. See full description of protocol here.

The following information is required for this protocol:

• Date
• Start time
• Duration (cannot be less than 20 minutes)
• The number of people doing the survey
• It has to be a complete checklist, so you must answer “Yes” to the question “Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you were able to identify?” when you submit the checklist

~Contributed by Andrew Silcocks, Golo Maurer and Richard Fuller