[Umpqua Birds] Contributing to knowledge of birds

From: Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx>
To: umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 20:59:46 -0800
HI Folks,

The Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up this weekend. It made me think
about the different ways we can contribute to a larger picture of knowledge
of birds. You see, if one person tried to drive all around North America
(or even just our own Douglas County), doing bird surveys, it would take
many decades to get enough data to understand the average distribution of
even a single species of bird, much less their annual migration timing. And
certainly, a single person could never hope to gather enough data to
document year-to-year changes and trends at meaningful scales.
  But, what if many people helped out?  That is what much of the "citizen
science" data gathering is geared toward. With many people contributing,
there is hope to learn more about birds than any one of us could
individually. If this excites any of you, I thought I would list a few ways
in which you can contribute to a growing knowledge of birds in our area,
our nation, and the world.

#1  Enter all your bird observations in eBird; as much as you have time
for. Yes, all species, not just the "unusual" ones. I think this is the
most important contribution you can make. Why? Because the bird information
you put in is specific in time and space, and is kept "forever." Therefore,
it can be put together with other information at any scale/extent, from a
single site (yard, park, refuge) to a general area, county, state, or
continent or the whole planet. Not only does your information in eBird
contribute to the knowledge of birds at multiple levels, it is also
available for you to look at, examine and query yourself. To learn more
about eBird, see www.eBird.org.

#2 Share your observations with a local email list. In our case, we have
Umpqua Birds (and OBOL at the state level). When you share what you have
been seeing at your feeders or local birding spots, we all get to share in
your experience and by virtue of these vicarious experiences we all gain
more "experience" with birds in our area through others' experiences. It's
kind of like "pot-luck" birding, where everyone brings a little something
and we all enjoy the richness and variety and new recipes. Everyone has
different birds, experiences, observations at there "patch" and when
everyone shares, we all get a feast! You already know, but you can learn
about Umpqua Birds at www.umpquabirds.org/emaillist.htm.

#3 Great Backyard Bird Count. This nationwide count is geared toward
backyard, feeder birders, but you can count any area you want during the
period, Feb 14-17. It's kind of like a Christmas Bird Count, but it doesn't
need to be coordinated locally (everyone can count when/where they want),
and it goes for several days.  The website, http://gbbc.birdcount.org/, has
information on how to participate, has links to let you explore data and
bird distribution maps from previous years, etc. Not surprisingly, it uses
eBird as its vehicle for data input and analysis.

#4 Christmas Bird Count. These are local one-day counts, coordinated
nationwide by the National Audubon Society, and organized locally by a
"compiler." The local count occurs on a specific day chosen between
mid-December to early January. This is one of, if not thee, longest-running
organized bird count in the world (114 years or so), though most local
counts are "younger" than that. The Roseburg-Sutherlin CBC has been run
since about 1959/60, though not every year. To learn more about CBCs, see
http://birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count.

#5 North American Migration Count (spring and fall counts). These counts
are in some ways like the Christmas Bird Count in that they are one-day
events, but they occur during peak spring and fall migrations. To learn
more about those in Oregon, see http://ecaudubon.org/Default.aspx?tabid=69.

#6 Breeding Bird Surveys. These breeding season surveys have been conducted
in Oregon (and across the country) for many decades. They are 25-mile
routes with dedicated 3-minute survey stops every half-mile (total of 50
stops). They are run once per year during a breeding season window, which
is usually May or June. A familiarity with songs and calls of local birds
is necessary for this particular survey. But if you don't have those
skills, you can tag along with someone who does and learn a lot! To find
out more, see www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs.

#7 Winter Raptor Surveys. These were begun about 10 years ago by the East
Cascades Bird Conservancy (now East Cascades Audubon Society). Routes are
on the order of 50 to 90 miles long, run once per month from December to
March. These are essentially driving routes in which you stop only if you
need to identify a raptor, or to look around in good locations. These are
also fun to do with a friend, and a good way to learn more about habits and
identification of raptors. To learn more, see
http://ecbcbirds.org/Default.aspx?tabid=73

Those are the main/best opportunities I think of. There are probably more,
but these should keep you busy for some time!  :-)

Enjoy,

Matt Hunter
Melrose, OR
[Umpqua Birds] Contributing to knowledge of birds

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