Archives

2021 Calgary Christmas Bird Count Results

Dec31

Here are the preliminary results of the 70th annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count (CBC) which was held on December 19. Over 300 people participated this year – 136 field surveyors and 173 feeder watchers at 123 addresses. The current totals are 72 species (plus an additional two species seen during count week), and 75,917 individual birds.

(A previous version of this post had 326 field surveyors. That was an error, and the number has been corrected.)

Rough-legged Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk. Five were recorded on this count. Photo by Bob Lefebvre during the 2011 Calgary CBC.

These numbers are slightly higher than last year. The species total is higher than the long-term average of about 66. There are still some adjustments to be made to the numbers and the possibility of adding another species to the total.

For those interested in hearing all the details of this count, Matt Wallace will be speaking on the Nature Calgary Bird Study Group Zoom presentation on Wednesday January 12, along with the compilers of several of the other local CBC’s (and possibly even the Edmonton count!). Nature Calgary members should receive a link to this meeting by email. If you would like to become a Nature Calgary member, see this page.

Common Redpoll
Common Redpoll. Almost 300 were reported on the Calgary CBC, as well as two Hoary Redpolls. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

Below is a more complete summary of the day, by Matt Wallace:

The 70th annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count took place on December 19. We had a highly successful year and I wanted to share the tentative numbers with you all.

Before jumping into the details I want to thank everyone who participated this year and acknowledge the outstanding efforts that were put in. The legacy and continuation of this count would not be possible without everyone’s contributions and appreciation for the natural world. Thank you to all of the participants and especially our section captains for accommodating the many new birders that joined in on the count. Thank you to TsuuT’ina Nation for allowing us the opportunity to visit your land on count day. I also want to give a special shout out to Lara Fitzpatrick and Bob Lefebvre for their superhuman coordination and data entry powers. They were both calm, cool, and enthusiastic about ensuring the collection of data and experience for participants was accessible and fun. Thank you to all!

Note: These are the tentative numbers (without adjustments) received on count day. 

Weather:

A relatively mild day for Calgary in December compared to previous years with temperatures in the -20s. Light winds (~10-15 km/hr) began in the afternoon.

DateMax Temp.Min Temp.
Dec 19 2021‑10.1 °C‑13.4 °C

Circle Sections and Participants

The Calgary Circle was divided into 38 sections this year. This is consistent with previous years as “subsections” were created for teams to survey within an official section of the circle. We now have an up-to-date digital map that includes all subsections. Participants were able to use the map in the field by saving it to their phone. This helped to ensure they were surveying within the circle boundaries and correct sections that they were assigned to. The Circle Section Map can be viewed here.

Participant numbers were strong with a total of 309 participants in total. There were a total of 123 Feeder Watcher residences with some households tag-teaming their yards throughout the day. On count day, a total of 136 people were in the field with many new birders joining the count for the first time. The number of field surveyors matches the average over the past 15 years (136). The field team hours were down from the record in 2020 (330) but we found more individual birds and more species than in 2020.

Number of ParticipantsTotalField SurveyorsFeeder Watchers
309136173
    
Total Counting Hours 615273342
    
Field Surveyor DetailsTotalWalkingDriving
       Counting Hours273203  69  
       Distance Traveled (km)14984611,036

Birds Summary

This year we used two methods to obtain bird data from field teams. Participants could share their eBird checklist with an account we created specific for the CBC. Effort data, mammal sightings, and bird data (not submitted to eBird) were submitted by each section captain using the template.

All eBird checklists (98) shared during count day can be viewed in the  eBird Trip Report here.

Count ResultsTotalCount Week
Total Count – Species722
Total Count – Individual Birds75,917

Below is the summary of all species and individuals counted. Field teams counted a total of 68,115 individuals (70 species) and Feeder Watchers counted 7802 individuals (35 species). Notable species and records are highlighted in yellow. Calgary count data has been collected since 1952.

(Use slider at bottom to reveal more columns.)

SPECIES COUNTED2021 Count10-yr Average2021 vs.
10-yr Avg		% of Years Reported Since 2011% of Years Reported Since 1952Record High CountRecord High YearNotes and Comments
Cackling Goose412-66%80%17%1392004 
Canada Goose23,96712,90286%100%74%27,4522004 
Trumpeter Swan51456%30%12%52017/2021Tie for Record
Tundra Swan1900%10%6%11991/2021Tie for Record
Wood Duck337%80%42%402007 
Gadwall110%50%41%291987 
Mallard17,32311,35653%100%100%24,5061992 
Green-winged Teal1150%20%54%91981 
Canvasback21300%30%14%21963/2021Tie for Record
Redhead181337%70%45%352020 
Ring-necked Duck52213%60%19%52019 
Greater Scaup21300%30%14%62007 
Lesser Scaup5379%80%58%141991 
Harlequin Duck41264%50%38%71989 
Bufflehead144194-26%100%72%3212015 
Common Goldeneye5541,110-50%100%99%5,3562007Low Count Year
Barrow’s Goldeneye310-69%100%72%252016 
Hooded Merganser23-38%90%54%81995 
Common Merganser86807%100%99%1592017 
Ruddy Duck1900%10%3%12018/ 2021Tie for Record
Sharp-tailed Grouse3900%10%39%251986Notable Sighting
Gray Partridge5866-13%100%97%2761977 
Ring-necked Pheasant111012%100%99%1241961 
Rock Pigeon1,4171,992-29%100%70%4,6112006 
Eurasian Collared-Dove226-92%80%13%632015Low Count Year
American Coot11-9%50%22%42018 
Wilson’s Snipe1233%10%17%32005Notable Sighting
Sharp-shinned Hawk46-29%90%33%102014 
Northern Goshawk6446%90%74%92019 
Bald Eagle6933110%100%80%692021Record Year
Rough-legged Hawk57-30%100%71%172015 
Great Horned Owl9730%100%84%261991 
Snowy Owl1––0%58%151973Notable Sighting
Northern Saw-whet Owl1125%60%25%22005 
Belted Kingfisher3236%100%72%91988 
American Three-toed Woodpecker2182%50%39%51980 
Downy Woodpecker26318146%100%96%2632021Record Year
Hairy Woodpecker393511%100%86%502018 
Pileated Woodpecker42100%90%49%52015 
Northern Flicker36322959%100%78%3632021Record Year
Merlin24228%100%93%432015 
Gyrfalcon1143%40%30%41990 
Northern Shrike8557%100%78%112015 
Blue Jay13711222%100%61%2561994 
Black-billed Magpie2,4012,607-8%100%100%3,0962020 
American Crow65103-37%100%72%1522012Low Count Year
Common Raven62550723%100%70%8582017 
Black-capped Chickadee2,1401,91012%100%100%2,2212006 
Mountain Chickadee7484%60%48%191987 
Boreal Chickadee718-60%100%81%1011987 
Golden-crowned Kinglet218-89%100%86%851990Low Count Year
Red-breasted Nuthatch200382-48%100%75%7272015 
White-breasted Nuthatch1101082%100%81%2032014 
Brown Creeper1720-16%100%84%332014 
American Dipper3236%90%61%71994 
European Starling3263202%100%99%1,4451995 
Townsend’s Solitaire184350%100%48%182021Record Year
American Robin8286-5%100%62%2192001 
Bohemian Waxwing15,81610,26254%100%96%20,0122005 
Cedar Waxwing1112-4%70%45%882003 
House Sparrow7,0966,11316%100%97%10,3042000 
Pine Grosbeak64196-67%90%87%8622011 
House Finch1,9161,04683%100%45%1,9162021Record Year
Common Redpoll272580-53%100%93%2,0251995 
Hoary Redpoll23-20%30%39%221969 
White-winged Crossbill40718-94%90%59%4,4482015Low Count Year
Pine Siskin50187-73%100%62%7722003 
American Tree Sparrow32100%50%45%341999 
Dark-eyed Junco64163-61%100%71%3922018 
White-crowned Sparrow1––0%3%12005 
White-throated Sparrow93233%70%35%151994 
Song Sparrow21300%40%26%31995 

Count Week Species: Varied Thrush, Prairie Falcon

Species Normally seen but not counted in 2021: Northern Pintail, Ruffed Grouse, Cooper’s Hawk, Red Crossbill

Just a reminder that these numbers are tentative. I will be presenting a more in-depth analysis on the count and describe our methods for adjusting these initial numbers at the Nature Calgary Bird Study Group on January 12 via Zoom.

Thank you all. Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!

Matt Wallace

Watch Birds in Your Yard for the Calgary Christmas Bird Count

Dec13

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

There has been a great deal of interest this year in the annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count. Matt Wallace, the Count Coordinator, and his leaders already have enough people registered to fill all the field teams. But if you’d like to participate by counting birds in your yard on Sunday December 19th, you are welcome to join us. You can count for as little as 30 minutes over the course of the day, or as long as you are able to – all at once, or intermittently.

White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco (Slate), two species you might see in your yard in December.

For your observations to be added to the official count, you must live within the Calgary Count Circle:

Calgary Christmas Bird Count Circle.
The Calgary Christmas Bird Count Circle.

If you are interested in taking part, just fill out the registration form below (it is a Google form, but you do not have to be signed into a Google account to fill it out). Matt Wallace or myself (the Feeder Watcher Coordinator) will verify that you are in the circle, and contact you with everything you need to know in order to participate in this long-running Citizen Science activity. We can also send you information on common winter backyard birds of Calgary, with photos.

Here is the link: Register as a Feeder Watcher in the 2021 Calgary CBC

We are particularly interested in trying to get more complete coverage of the city with our Feeder Watchers. There are a few neighbourhoods which are under-represented, as you can see in the map below, which shows the approximate locations of all of our participants.

We would especially like to fill out this map in northeast Calgary, and there are a few other areas without much coverage, a shown below.

So if you live in one of these areas, please consider registering for the count. But we will accept you wherever you are!

Results of Calgary Christmas Bird Count 2020

Dec29

We had a very successful Christmas Bird Count in Calgary on Sunday December 20th. The weather was mild with virtually no snow on the ground, although it was a little windy. Despite Covid precautions, the field routes were all covered, and we had a record number of Feeder Watchers counting birds in their yards (thanks largely to the efforts of Matthew Wallace).

Northern Saw-whet Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl. This one was seen by a Feeder Watcher a few days before the count, but we did get another one on count day in another part of the city. Photo by Janet Gill.

Preliminary results, provided by compiler Phil Cram, show that there were 70 species counted, which is one of the higher totals we’ve had in the 69 years of the count. Most significantly, there were three new species never before seen on the CBC: Anna’s Hummingbird, Swainson’s Thrush and Mountain Bluebird, bringing our cumulative species count to 142.

Here are the results with the total number of each species seen:

Loading...

Besides the three new species, there were other notable results:

Unusual Species: Green-winged Teal and Evening Grosbeak.

Record High Counts: Northern Flicker (328) and Black-billed Magpie (3063) – probably due to increased coverage.

Also High Count: White-throated Sparrow (10).

Low Counts: Gray Partridge, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Northern Goshawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Bohemian Waxwing, Common Redpoll, Red Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill and Pine Siskin (see sheet for numbers).

Noteworthy Missed Species: American Wigeon, Ruffed Grouse, Killdeer, Red-tailed Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Snow Bunting and American Tree Sparrow.

Count-week (not seen on count day, but in the period three days prior or three days after): Snow Goose and Hoary Redpoll.

It seems that during the pandemic there has been a really big increase in the number of people taking up birding, and many more people are watching birds in their yards. We had 154 observers in 128 households counting birds. Feeder Watchers counted 35 species, including the only Northern Saw-whet Owl, the only Anna’s Hummingbird, and the only Purple Finch seen.

Feeder-Watcher Results:

Canada Goose658
Mallard193
Rock Pigeon96
Sharp-shinned Hawk3
Downy Woodpecker81
Hairy Woodpecker6
Northern Flicker113
Merlin5
Blue Jay58
Black-billed Magpie471
Common Raven38
Black-capped Chickadee275
Red-breasted Nuthatch147
White-breasted Nuthatch18
European Starling2
American Robin4
Bohemian Waxwing6
House Sparrow1037
House Finch400
Dark-eyed Junco34
White-throated Sparrow7
White-winged Crossbill4
Pine Siskin21
American Crow20
Anna’s Hummingbird1
Mountain Chickadee2
Northern Saw-whet Owl1
Bald Eagle2
Purple Finch1
Common Merganser4
Great Horned Owl1
Gray Partridge10
Common Redpoll3
Ring-necked Pheasant7
  
Total Bird Species:35
Total Bird Count:3712
Total Observers:154

Next post: Sign up to get involved in next year’s Christmas Bird Count, and other Citizen Science Projects.

Calgary Christmas Bird Count 2020

Dec13

The 69th annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count will take place this year on Sunday December 20th. This is one of over 2,000 counts that will take place in the Western Hemisphere this year. Teams spread out within a predetermined count circle and count every bird they see or hear on count day.  The information gathered by thousands of volunteers over the years has been an invaluable source of information about population trends in the bird world.

Bald Eagle
A Bald Eagle seen on the count in 2014. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.

There are two ways to participate in the count: By joining a team in the field, or by watching and counting birds at the feeders in your yard. Covid restrictions will apply to the field counters.

Christmas Bird Count
Counting waterfowl on the river for CBC 2019. Photo by Kathleen Johnson.

The Calgary CBC was started in 1952 and the Feeder Watchers were added in 1984. The Feeder Watch is the component of the CBC that gets those involved that either don’t want to go out in the field, or are unable to. There is a wealth of bird life to be found regularly at feeders and these feeder counts are added to the counts from in the field. Birds may be counted at your residence within the count circle – a circle 24 kilometers in diameter centred on the Louise Bridge. In the 2019 CBC over 49,000 birds were counted in Calgary, of sixty-three different species. Feeder watchers recorded thirty-five species. The feeder watcher role is an important one.

We are no longer taking registrations for the 2020 count, but if you are interested in participating next year, or if you want more information, email me at birdscalgary[at]gmail.com. Next year’s Calgary Christmas Bird Count is on Sunday December 19, 2021.

Varied Thrush
A Varied Thrush that overwintered in my yard in 2011-12. It’s a possibility for Feeder Watchers on the Christmas Bird Count. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
American Porcupine
Mammals are counted too. A porcupine found on the 2012 count. Photo by Troy Bourque.

BirdYYC2020 Challenge Update, February 16

Feb16

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

The 2020 birding challenge is well under way! About sixty local birders have begun to build up their year lists, trying to find as many species as they can within the city limits in 2020. Here is an update on how things have gone so far.

First of all, I should mention that it is not too late to join. If you were away, if you didn’t get around to joining, or if you don’t get out much in the winter, there is no reason you can’t start now and still have a big year. Even if you miss all the winter birds you will have another crack at them in November and December.

To get started, just send your name, eBird name and email address to Howard Heffler at: hheffler[at]shaw.ca.  For more information, see this post.

If you are already an eBirder it is easy to get started. Just register with Howard, then set up your city patch. If not, there is still time to begin using eBird to record your sightings and have a big year. Here are the posts that will get you started.

At the end of January the leader in the challenge had recorded 52 species inside the city limits. There were 86 species seen by all eBirders in Calgary county in January. The county is larger than the city, so Howard Heffler has attempted to determine which ones were seen in the city, and it looks like there were 73 species seen collectively. You can see the list of species on Howard Heffler’s summary on Albertabird here.

In addition to the usual winter birds, the list has quite a number of overwintering birds that most birders will be able to get in the spring, summer, or fall if they don’t see them now. These include the Trumpeter Swans at Carburn Park and the Tundra Swan at Griffith Woods Park, the Lesser Scaup, Redheads, and Ring-necked Ducks at Carburn, American Robins, American Crows, and many others.

Trumpeter Swan
Trumpeter Swan, an overwintering adult at Carburn Park. Photo by Andrew Hart.

There are also many of the usual winter-only species that that participants should make an effort to find in the next month or so, or else have to wait until next winter. This would include Northern Shrike, American Dipper, Townsend’s Solitaire, Bohemian Waxwing, Pine Grosbeak, and Common Redpoll (Hoary Redpoll has not yet been reported). Redpolls are very scarce so I hope we get a bigger influx next winter.

In addition there are quite a few species that are much easier to find in the city in the winter, though they are in the Calgary region year-round. Examples are Northern Pygmy-Owl (seen lately in Shannon Terrace), American Three-toed Woodpecker and Black-backed Woodpecker (Votier’s Flats and Shannon Terrace in Fish Creek Park), Barrow’s Goldeneye (lower Bow River), Northern Saw-whet Owl (various locations, and really hard to find, though they are beginning to sing now and may be heard in forested areas in the next month or two).

I would also make an effort to see Harlequin Ducks – there are a few on the Bow this winter but you never know if any will be there next winter. They have been seen most reliably at Carburn Park and Beaverdam Flats. The Greater Scaup at Carburn are worth seeing too. They can be here on migration but are not common in the city. This overwintering pair is more reliable (although I haven’t seen them in four attempts). Northern Goshawk seems to be reported more often in the winter as well. I don’t know if they are more numerous in the winter or just easier to spot with no leaves on the trees.

Harlequin Ducks
Harlequin Ducks. Photo by Andrew Hart.
Greater Scaup
Greater Scaup. Photo by Andrew hart.

There have also been a few rare birds (for the city). A single Snowy Owl was reported on Nose Hill, and a Barred Owl in Griffith Woods Park. These were unusual one- and two-day sightings. But the Clark’s Nutcracker in Quarry Park has been there for a while, and they are almost never reported in the city. Go find it – I wouldn’t count on another being seen past the spring. Gyrfalcon has been seen in the city by many participants, and that may not happen again either.

Here are the Challenge leaders at the end of January:

BirdYYC2020 Leaders, January 31

Quite a few local birders are getting out this year!

Here is an update to the leaders as of today, February 16th:

Mountain Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee. This is a species that is often in the city in winter, but not every winter. Go find it now. Photo by Andrew Hart.

The Calgary Big Year Begins!

Jan1

Happy New Year! Today marks the start of BirdYYC2020, a year-long birding challenge. Participants will try to find as many species as they can within the Calgary city limits in 2020.

American Dipper
American Dipper. A few have been seen in the city this winter. You never know about next winter, so find one now! Photo by Tony LePrieur.

If you haven’t yet registered or set up your city eBird patch, you can still join. Email Howard Heffler at hheffler[@]shaw.ca with your name, eBird name, and email address and you will be added to the list. You can set up your eBird patch later too, but you’ll have to start putting your sightings into eBird right away for those to count towards your totals.

The important thing to do now if you want to get a good start on your Big Year list is to find all the winter birds that can’t be found here in the summer. The winter finches are in short supply this year but could be entirely absent next November and December, so get Pine Grosbeak and any others you can find now. Go to Carburn Park and Fish Creek Park where dippers have been seen.

All-day field trip to kick off BirdYYC2020

On Friday January 3, Gavin McKinnon will lead a field trip to various locations in the city so you can get a good start on your year. To register, text Gavin at 403-519-8703. Registration is required. See the Nature Calgary field trip page for more information.

You can increase your chances of finding good birds by following reports on Albertabird and on eBird so you can see what’s been reported and where. It’s a good idea to set your Calgary County Year Needs Alert on eBird so you get an hourly or daily email that lists everything that’s been reported on eBird that you haven’t yet seen in 2020 (keeping in mind that some reports will be from outside the city limits, so check the locations carefully).

There is a new page tab at the top of the blog called “BirdYYC2020” (right next to the “Home” tab). Click on that for links to all the articles we have posted about the challenge. This will include information about joining, using eBird, setting up your patch, setting alerts, and so on.

Horned Lark
Horned Lark. This is a really tough one to get inside the city, but winter might be the best time to look for them on the eastern outskirts. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

If you have any questions about the challenge contact:

  • Howard Heffler: hheffler[at]shaw.ca
  • Andrew Hart: andrewhart[at]shaw.ca
  • Bob Lefebvre: wbird7[at]gmail.com
  • Gavin McKinnon: gmckinnonbird[at]gmail.com

Good luck and good birding!

The Winter Bird Lists

Dec29

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

For many years Richard Klauke has maintained a list of bird species reported in Alberta during the winter birding season, December 1 to the end of February. This list shows us which species we can expect here every winter, which ones are not here every winter, and which ones are rarely seen in winter. It also allows us to monitor trends over time.

The Edmonton Nature Club has also maintained a winter list for their 80-km radius birding region for the past several years. A couple of years ago I started doing the same for our Calgary region, and Caroline Lambert has added a list for the Bow Valley birding area. Caroline has been maintaining a site where you can see all four lists, and she has been doing almost all of the updating of both the Calgary and Bow Valley lists this year.

Eared Grebe
Eared Grebe. One has been seen at Frank Lake this winter – a new bird for our Calgary winter list. Photo by Dan Arndt, Glenmore Reservoir, November 3, 2016.

Click here to see the Calgary Winter List. From that page you can navigate to the Alberta, Edmonton, and Bow Valley lists.

The Calgary list stands at 93 species. Last year’s total at the end of February was 100, and it was 103 the year before. It might seem like we’re getting close to those numbers, but it gets pretty hard to add new species from here on. Have a look at the lists and see if you know of any missing birds that were seen in each region. You can report your sightings on eBird or on Albertabird.

The Pacific Wren that was reported in Bowness in Calgary has been removed for now, since there is no agreement on whether it is a Pacific or a Winter Wren. It was seen and photographed several times, but no definitive conclusion has been reached, as far as I know.

Some recent additions to the list are Gyrfalcon (photographed in North Calgary on December 23), American Tree Sparrow (four birds seen at a feeder NW of Calgary on December 23, and seen and photographed again today), and American Kestrel (reported in the Strathcona neighbourhood on December 28).

American Tree Sparrows, NW of Calgary, December 29, 2019. Photos by Glenn Alexon.

New species for the three years the list has been maintained are Tundra Swan, White-winged Scoter, Eared Grebe, and Boreal Owl.

Notable species which were seen in the two previous winters but not reported yet this year (and which should be around somewhere) are Wild Turkey and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. Harris’s Sparrow has also not yet been reported, and there could be one lurking somewhere in the 20,000 square kilometers of our circle.

The Bow Valley List now stands at 54 species. Last year’s total was 67. No Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches have been seen here either, and surprisingly, no Great Horned Owl. If you see these, or any other species not listed yet, report it on eBird, Albertabird or to the Bow Valley Birding Facebook Group. The Bow Valley region is not a circle, so see the Winter Bird List page linked above to read the description of the area.

The Edmonton list is at 70 species. Although they have some excellent birds this year, they had a record year last winter, with 91. You can follow the progress of the Edmonton list on the ENC Nature Talk group.

Finally, the Alberta Winter Bird List is one you can contribute to from anywhere in the province. The total right now is 126, with 6 of those not confirmed. Last year was a record total of 166. This includes some subspecies that may not have been on the list in earlier years (or were not yet recognized as subspecies). The important thing is what hasn’t yet been seen. Of the 110 “core” species (seen every winter, or are elusive winter residents) only Wood Duck, Ruddy Duck, White-tailed Ptarmigan, Mourning Dove, Long-eared Owl, and possibly Cooper’s Hawk have not yet been reported in the province.

Have fun trying to add to these lists in your region!

BirdYYC2020: Setting Up Your eBird Patch

Dec28

Calgary 2020 Big Year Birding Challenge

Nature Calgary is promoting a friendly “big year” birding challenge within the Calgary city limits in 2020. See this post for general information. To register to take part in this free year-long challenge, send your name, eBird name, and email address to Howard Heffler at: hheffler[at]shaw.ca.

Participants will have to set up a Patch List in eBird that includes all of their sightings within the city limits.

Northern Pygmy-Owl
Will you be able to find a Northern Pygmy-Owl in Calgary in 2020?
Photo by Tony LePrieur, Bebo Grove, Calgary, December 2, 2017.

Setting Up Patch Lists by Howard Heffler.

For the BirdYYC2020 eBird challenge, here is how you set up your patch list. If you are new to eBird, I recommend you review the eBird help pages. They define Patch List as:

Patch list: a series of locations for a specific area that you can summarize in a patch list.

You can have any number of patch lists. For example; Fish Creek Provincial Park patch, which will include every location that you have birded within the Park. As you know, there are several hotspots in Fish Creek and creating a patch is a way to collect your checklists in one place and look at all the data together. For the BirdYYC2020 eBird challenge we will use the current Calgary city limits. (For those of you who participated in the 2010 competition, the City boundaries have not changed, so any information you have from then is still relevant.)

You only need to set up the patch list once, and all your past and future sightings will be included in the totals, broken down by month, year, and life. Use the patch name “BirdYYC2020”. If you already have a city limits patch, you merely need to rename your existing patch. (Remember to re-name it back to its original name when the 2020 challenge is over.) Also, if you submit an eBird list from a new (to you) location, you will have to remember to add that location to your patch list. Both established hotspots and personal locations are eligible. 

If this is all new to you, here is a step-by-step guide:

  1. Open eBird.
    • By this time, we assume you have an account and have signed in.
    • It will also be more meaningful if you have already submitted a few checklists from locations within the City.
  2. Click on “Explore”.
    • Near the bottom you will find “Patch Totals”.
    • You will also see “Yard Totals”. You can also keep a yard list with this tool. You should remember to include your personal location for your home (your “yard”) in the BirdYYC2020 patch, but only if you live in the City.
  3. Click on Patch Totals.
    • Click on “Add a Patch”. (If you have previously set up your BirdYYC2020 patch, go to Step 4.)
    • Name the patch BirdYYC2020.
    • Scroll down through all your locations and tick the ones within the City limits. The designated eBird hotspots all start with Calgary or Fish Creek PP. All your personal locations (non-hotspots) are also eligible – if they are inside the City limits.
    • Don’t worry, when you submit a list in the future from a location not yet on this list, you can add it later; usually when you get home that evening.
    • Click on “Save Patch”.
  4. Go back to Patch Totals.
    • You will now see all the patch lists for the region. It will likely first open for all of Canada, so you will want to change the region to Alberta, and to Calgary.
    • This page shows all your patch lists within Calgary County. You can see your data in a variety of ways. Notice that anything that is blue and underscored is a link. Have good look around to get familiar with all the ways you can summarize your data. It’s fun!
    • You will also see all the patches by other eBirders within Calgary County. Some will be BirdYYC2020, but there will be others too.
    • This is why we ask all participants to NOT hide their data. (Take a look at this guide to see how to set your preferences.)
    • You will see who has reported the highest number of species in the BirdYYC2020 patch and how you compare. You can look by month, year or life.
    • Next year, 2020, this is where the fun begins. Who is leading? Where do you stand? What species have been recently reported?

That’s it. You are now in the BirdYYC2020 birding challenge!

Note that since eBird tracks all of your lifetime sightings, you can set up this patch anytime in 2020 and it will include sightings from earlier in the year. So if you are a latecomer to the challenge and don’t get started right away, you can still take part. But we would like to see as many participants as possible get their patches done by January 1st so we can see how it’s going.

We ask that you register for the challenge by sending an email to Howard Heffler (hheffler*@*shaw.ca) with your name, email address and eBird name. Some people use a pseudonym in eBird, which is fine, but we would like to know who you are when we see your eBird checklists.

During the year anyone can look on eBird and see the all the participants with a BirdYYC2020 patch. It will show how many species (and how many checklists) have been reported by each. Your totals will show as well. It is not possible to see an individual’s complete list of species, just a few of their most recent sightings.

Enjoy!

Any questions or suggestions contact:

A Guide To Setting Alerts in eBird

Dec1

Calgary 2020 Big Year Birding Challenge

By Howard Heffler

Nature Calgary is promoting a friendly “big year” birding challenge within Calgary city limits in 2020. See this post for details of the challenge.

What Are eBird Alerts?

eBird Alerts are lists of noteworthy birds reported in the past seven days in a specific county, state, province, or country. The best place to learn about eBird alerts is on the eBird Help pages about alerts and targets.

In a previous article we described how to open an eBird account with your name and email address. It will be very helpful if you set the eBird parameters on “My eBird” to alert you about local sightings that should improve your chances of adding to your year list.

Setting eBird Alerts

You can get to the Alerts page either from “Explore” and then, near the bottom, open “Alerts.” Or, from “My eBird,” open “Manage My Alerts.”

There are three Alerts:

1. ABA Rarities

This alert is for observations of rare birds in the American Birding Association Area.

2. Rare Bird Alerts

Email alerts for rare birds in a particular area.

3. Needs Alerts

Email alerts for species you have not personally recorded in a particular region or time period.

The later two are likely the most relevant to participation in the BirdYYC2020 challenge.

You can set your region of interest to Calgary. It is important to remember that the eBird region named “Calgary” refers to an area larger that the City of Calgary.

eBird
The Calgary County on eBird.

After selecting Calgary as your region of interest, you can “View” the alerts or you can “Subscribe.” If you subscribe, eBird will send you an email – daily or hourly.

By setting your “Needs Alerts” eBird will notify you of all species reported in Calgary for the past seven days that would be new to your list of species on eBird. To be most useful to the BirdYYC2020 challenge, check the box “This year only.”   

The Rare Bird Alerts will inform you of ABA Code 3 and above reports in the region, whether or not they are on your needs list.

You can also set alerts for any other other region you are interested in, for example if you plan to travel. Alerts can easily be changed at any time from “Manage My Alerts” on your “My eBird” page. It is a very useful feature of eBird and birders participating in the 2020 challenge should take advantage of it.

A Beginner’s Guide to eBird

Nov30

Calgary 2020 Big Year Birding Challenge

By Howard Heffler

Nature Calgary is promoting a friendly “big year” birding challenge within Calgary city limits in 2020: BIRDYYC2020.

This article is for beginners with eBird to give them the essential information to get started and, we hope, the confidence to explore the powerful features of eBird.

What is eBird?

eBird is a publicly-accessible online database consisting of bird sightings from all around the world. The best place to learn about eBird is on their website.

eBird Canada
The eBird Canada home page.

Since 2002 eBird has amassed over one-half billion reports from birders around the world. It is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is supported entirely by grants, sponsors, and donations. It is free and available for everyone to use.

The first step is to go to the home page and open an account with your name and email address. You will have to select a username and a password. That’s all there is to it.

Using eBird to enter your sightings

There is a vast amount of data on the eBird website that you may access, but the two things to consider initially are; (1) entering checklists, and (2) looking up data. There is a “help” button on the top menu bar on the home page. Believe me, the help pages are very good.

In the Field

I think most people keep track of their sightings while they are birding in the field using the eBird mobile app. The first step is to get the app – available for free on both the Google Play and App Stores. After you download the app and open it on your smartphone, the screen looks like this:

eBird app
The eBird smartphone app home screen.

The idea is to enter your sightings while you are birding. There are several ways to do this and you will soon find your favorite techniques after a bit of practice. You will have to spend a bit of time at your computer looking through the instructions on the eBird help pages.

In a nutshell; open the app, start a new list, select a location, enter your sightings at that hotspot, stop the list (when you are finished at that hotspot), review it, and submit.

I admit it takes a bit of time initially to learn. But, after some practice, you will appreciate the many ways it is helpful to your birding.

At your desk

It is also possible to submit checklists from your computer when you get back home.  Open eBird and look for the “submit” button at the top of the home page. You then select the location where you were birding (if you visited several locations, you will need to submit a checklist for each), enter the time and date, type of observation, and begin to enter your sightings.

eBird page
The eBird desktop interface.

Again, remember that each checklist is to be associated with one hotspot. It might be a public hotspot such as, Calgary–Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, or it might be a location you define yourself. It is not a list of all the birds you saw that day at a variety of locations.

I encourage you to look through the help pages on the eBird website. They are very well thought out. Remember, there are many thousands (even millions) of birders just like you. Everyone one of them at one time was a beginner with eBird.

Looking up Data

I consider eBird to have two modes: data in and data out. “Data in” refers to entering your sightings. “Data out” refers to looking up information that has been compiled from the vast number of reports from the many millions of checklists; including your own checklists. There are many more things that can be done with this data than I can even begin to describe. Here are a few things you will initially want to do.

Check out Hotspots and Species

On the eBird home page, open the “Explore” page. From there you can find a hotspot, look at what birds have been reported over any time period, see the location on Google maps, and study the historic data in any way you could imagine. Most likely, you will want to see what birds were seen in the past few days to help you anticipate what you might find there.

Alternatively, you may want to explore by species name. In this case you enter the common name of a species and eBird displays a map of all locations where this species has been recorded. You can then zoom in to the desired geographic scale – perhaps right to a hotspot near you where that species was reported in the past week.  There are a few sensitive species that do not allow you to zoom in to specific locations. In Alberta these are Gyrfalcon, Great Grey Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl and Burrowing Owl.

My eBird

Of course, you will also want to look at your own data. On the eBird home page open “My eBird”. On the main part of the My eBird page you can look at your own data. On the right-hand side are several tabs. Likely the one you will use most frequently is: “Manage My Observations”. When you open this page, you will see all your checklists. They can be sorted by date, by location, or by region, and can be edited or shared.

There are many other actions you can do on or from “My eBird” such as setting up alerts to let you know about rare bird sightings or to advise that a bird you have not yet seen that year has been recently reported – we will discuss this feature in another article. One set of parameters I want to draw your attention to is: setting your eBird preferences. We want all participants in BIRDYYC2020 to share their eBird lists and make sightings on eBird visible. The purpose is to allow all participants to chase sightings by others.  Specifically: from the eBird homepage, under My eBird, select Preferences; Data privacy – elect to NOT hide your eBird data.

eBird preferences

One other feature of eBird that will be of special interest during the BIRDYYC2020 challenge will be how to establish a “Patch”. We will develop another instructional article on just that topic. The starting point on the eBird home page is the “explore” button. Try it and see how you do.

Closing

I can remember many times my Dad telling me when I was young: “Don’t play with that, you’ll break it.” That’s not true with eBird. You won’t break it. Sign in and go exploring around the whole site. Look through the help topics. Look at the data for one of your favorite hotspots. Explore the Region, “Calgary County”. Be aware that “Calgary County” is quite a bit larger that the City of Calgary.

Enjoy.