BirdYYC2020 Challenge Update, February 16

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, 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.

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

	Name	Species
1	John Thompson	52
2	Blake Weis	50
3	Tony Timmons	48
4	Dave Russum	47
5	Lorrie Anderson	46
5	Evan Walters	46
5	Christopher Law	46
8	Howard Heffler	45
9	John Anderson	44
10	Alan Knowles	43

Quite a few local birders are getting out this year!

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

1	Tony Timmons	59
2	John Thompson	56
3	Howard Heffler	55
4	John Anderson	54
4	Lorrie Anderson	54
6	Blake Weis	53
7	Andrew Hart	52
8	Alan Knowles	50
9	Dave Russum	49
9	Evan Walters	49
11	Jim St. Laurent	48
11	Gavin McKinnon	48
11	Christopher Law	48
14	David Mitchell	47
15	Lorna Aynbinder	45
15	Tim Bandfield	45
17	Daniel Arndt	43
17	Michelle Schreder	43
17	Kerry Korber	43
20	Keith Miles	42

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.

Birds & Beers, January 23, 2020

Jan18

The next Birds & Birds social get-together will be held this Thursday, January 23, 2020. Gavin McKinnon will give a presentation, featuring photographs like the one below, on his Big Year in 2019. Gavin’s goal was to record over 300 species in Alberta in the calendar year.

Evening Grosbeak, photographed in 2019 by Gavin McKinnon.

Royal Canadian Legion, Centennial Calgary Branch#285,

9202 Horton Road SW.

Thursday January 23, 2020, 6:00-9:00 pm

Everyone is welcome to attend Birds & Beers, and there is no charge. We will meet in the big ballroom at the Legion. Food and drinks are available at reasonable prices, and children are welcome if accompanied by an adult. Come early if you want to avoid the lineup at the kitchen. The presentation will begin at about 7:15 so if you can’t make it at six pm, come later.

See you there!

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. 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. 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. 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.

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:

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.
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.
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”.
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:

Howard Heffler: hheffler*@*shaw.ca
Andrew Hart: andrewhart*@*shaw.ca
Bob Lefebvre: wbird7*@*gmail.com
Gavin McKinnon: gmckinnonbird*@*gmail.com

Merry Christmas From Birds Calgary!

Dec25

Snow Angels. Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Wing prints — Snow Angel, Inglewood Golf Course, December 14, 2019. Photo by Kathleen Johnson.

During the recent Calgary Christmas Bird Count, we saw an amazing number of animal tracks in the fresh snow on the Inglewood Golf Course. But the most extraordinary tracks were these wing impressions (sometimes called snow angels) left by some of the local Bald Eagles as they skimmed low over the snow.

In two places we saw a series of over twenty of these in a row, where an eagle had taken off from the ground or a low perch and flew across the open fairway, leaving an impression with every wingstroke, usually with impressions of the feet between the wing prints as well.

Mapping Tools for the 2020 Birding Challenge

Dec22

By Andrew Hart

In the new year there will be an eBird challenge in Calgary in which participants try to see as many species as they can within the city limits. See this post for information about the challenge. To join, send your name, ebird name, and email address to Howard Heffler at: hheffler[at]shaw.ca.

It is usually easy to tell if the spot where you are birding or have birded is inside the city limits, particularly if your location is an existing eBird HotSpot. But if you are near the city boundary and birding at a new location, it can be difficult to tell if the spot is inside or outside the city.

There are two mapping tools available to help with this aspect of the challenge. Each tool works on both a desktop and a tablet/smartphone.

Google Maps Tool

To access this on a desktop simply click on this link. This will bring up Google Maps, as below.

The YYC2020 area shows up as a lighter area bounded in blue.

To facilitate easier access in the future you can choose to bookmark this location in your browser.

To access on a smartphone/tablet the process is similar, and there are probably several ways to do it. First ensure that you have the Google Maps app installed on your smartphone.

The way I have found most convenient is to generate an email with the link embedded. You can then click on the link in the email to get the map, as below. As with the desktop version you can then zoom in and out. If you are in the field you can immediately check to see if you are in the city limits or not. If you are at home and checking to see if a location you have already birded at is inside the city limits, just compare your location from the eBird location map to this boundary map.

I have created an email subfolder YYC2020 on my phone with this (so far the only) email in it so that I can rapidly find the relevant email and click on it.

You can also set this up as a favourite in your smartphone browser. I think this is more complicated, and how to do it depends on your actual smartphone and preferred browser. There are too many options to describe each one here.

Google Earth Tool

This requires that Google Earth Pro is installed on whichever device(s) you are going to use. It also requires setting up the City boundary as one of “My Places” in Google Earth.

The City boundary is defined in a Google Earth add in file named “Calgary City Boundary.kml”. This is available on the Nature Calgary YYC2020 webpage.

To access this tool on a desktop :

Download the kml file from the Nature Calgary website and save it in a convenient folder on your desktop. The file link is at the bottom of this page on Nature Calgary’s site.
Open Google Earth Pro
Use file open and navigate to the location where you saved the kml file

Open the kml file and you will see the Calgary City boundary saved under “temporary places” in the menu on the left. You will also see a view showing the city limits overlaid with a brown colour. The precise view you will get depends on exactly which layers you have switched on in the lower part of the left hand menu.

Next, to ensure you see this the next time you open Google Earth just drag the City Boundary.kml folder up in to the “My Places” folder.

That completes the set-up.
Next time you open Google Earth simply click on the “Calgary City Boundary” link under My Places.

To set it up on a smart device the procedure is somewhat similar.

Install Google Earth Pro on your smart device
Install the kml file on your smart device
There are a number of ways to do this
If you already have the file on your desktop then save the file to a cloud location that is accessible to your smart device. Typically iCloud or Onedrive.
Then download the file from the cloud location to your smartphone .
Now open Google Earth (Pro) and open the “Projects” drop down menu from the three bar menu at top left.
Press “open” and then “Import kml file”
Browse to where your kml file is located. The iCloud screenshot below is one example
Tap on the relevant file
Bring it in to Google Earth (by tapping)
You will now see the city boundary as a brown overlay

If you want to check your own location then tap the three white dots at top right.
Next tap my location at the bottom, and you will see your location.
Note that unlike Google Maps Google Earth does not continuously update your location. If you move and want to check again then you have to reset your location
If you do not have access to the file on a desktop then access the file on the Nature Calgary website from your smart device and save it to your smart device. Then follow the same steps described above.

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

BirdYYC2020 – WhatsApp Group for Rare Birds

Dec8

About

A WhatsApp group has been set up to allow Calgary birders participating in the 2020 “Big Year” Birding Challenge to share instant updates on rare/uncommon birds sighted within the city limits. The big advantage of this group over email listservs will be that everyone can send out and receive updates quickly. It is essentially like sending a text message, much faster and more direct than email. Photos can be also be shared with the app.

WhatsApp groups are currently restricted to 256 members, which we hope will be more than enough to include all the birders who want to get “instant” bird news while they are out and about.

For those who do not want instant updates we will have a weekly report of rare birds on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Follow the challenge on Twitter at @birdyyc2020.

Joining the group

If you don’t already have WhatsApp on your phone, you will first need to download and install it (via iTunes, Android Play or the Microsoft Store, depending on what type of smartphone you have). The app is free. Once you have the app, you will need to send a request to one of the group admins with your request to join the Birdyyc2020 RBA group.

There are currently two group admins: Gavin McKinnon and Bob Lefebvre. In order to join the group please send a message to either one of them and they will add you to the group. A text message to their phone number is the easiest way to do it. Gavin 403-519-8703; Bob 403-370-0556. Include your name so that it will be visible to users when you post messages to the group.

The group is open to all birders interested in Calgary’s rare birds. All BirdYYC2020 challenge participants will receive an email with a link to join the WhatsApp group. If you received this email simply follow the link to join the group. To join the challenge, email Howard Heffler at hheffler[at]shaw.ca with “Challenge” in the subject line.

Group Guidelines

● The group is only to be used for sharing information about rare and uncommon species within the city limits of Calgary. Please remember that every message you send goes out to everyone in the group. Although general chit-chat and banter is expected please avoid having conversations in the group chat.

● If you find a bird on the list of ‘reportable’ species, send a message to the group as soon as possible. (A list of reportable species will be provided to participants.) Include as much detail as you think necessary to enable others to find the bird if they choose to go and look for it. If you do pursue (“twitch”) a reported sighting please send an update on whether you have been successful or not.

● Consider the welfare of the bird at all times. Do not send out news of sensitive or breeding birds. Please do not report the locations of owls or other species prone to disturbance on the group chat. If you are unsure of whether or not to post please contact one of the group admins before doing so.

We encourage participants in the challenge to also share their sightings on the listserv Albertabird. If you are not a member of Albertabird, see this post for information.

Don’t wait until January to start using the app! We have been using it for a while already, and we’d like to see it used next week during the Calgary Christmas Bird Count, and on other counts over the Christmas season.

Mew Gull, photographed on the Irrigation Canal in SE Calgary on October 13, 2019, by Gavin McKinnon, and shared immediately with BirdYYC2020 WhatsApp group users.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact Gavin McKinnon by email (gmckinnonbird[at]gmail.com) or phone (403-519-8703).

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.

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.

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.

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.

BirdYYC2020 Leaders, January 31

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