[CT Birds] more eBird features

[Greg Hanisek]

Folks:

Below is a message on a new eBird feature from Marshall Iliff. If you haven't looked into using eBird I highly recommend it. A number of new features have been added with more to come.

Greg Hanisek

Hi all,

Be it the first Red-winged Blackbirds, the first woodcock or the first
Mourning Warbler, one of my favorite parts of spring is looking for spring
arrivals. Judging by posts over the last few weeks, I think it's safe to say
that I'm not alone. 

We've just released three NEW FEATURES to the View and Explore data tab in
eBird: arrivals and departures; all time earliest and last records; and high
counts. Each of these outputs displays the name of the species, number of
individuals reported, observer name, location and date.

So using the Arrivals and Departures, you can now go in and see who found
the first Bay-breasted Warbler last year in Massachusetts and where. Or you
can look at when the earliest date Eastern Phoebe has ever been reported and
who reported it. Or the latest Yellow Warbler of the fall. All output is
available for states, counties and "hotspots". With this new tool, we have a
new and exciting opportunity to keep closer track than ever of spring
arrivals this year.

You can also use the "All-time first/last records" to go in and see where,
when and who reported the first ever (i.e., the first-state record in the
eBird database) for any species. For example, the first Yellow-throated
Warbler reported for Massachusetts was 25 April 2004--hopefully as more
historical data are entered, dates like these will get pushed back a century
or more!  (This is also a reminder that I need to enter the one I saw in
Boston Common in Dec 1998)!

You can also click departures (with the all-time records) checked, to look
at the most recent report for any species. This could be as recent as
yesterday, or many years ago (e.g., the last Pink-footed Goose, and
Massachusetts' only record, was in 1999). This is a great way to explore the
most recent observations or to see what was seen (and reported to eBird)
over the weekend. Sort by date to see most recent reports, or sort
taxonomically (or alphabetically) to check on a particular species. Or click
on observer to see your own contributions!

Finally, the "high counts" output shows the highest counts--once again,
these are available for states, counties, and "hot spots" and are
fascinating to explore (especially with all Rick Heil's data in from the
late 1970s)!

We hope enjoy these new outputs. To look at them, just go to:
http://ebird.org. Click the "View and Explore Data" tab and then on any of
these new features. Play around a bit.

These arrival dates are getting more attention from researchers interested
at looking at patterns of arrival and departure dates and climate change.
The challenge is that many of our observations may make it to a local
birding list (like Massbird), but they don't end up where researchers access
these data. By submitting your observations into eBird, you make your data
available to the very large community of researchers, scientists, educators
and birders. But we also think that once you use eBird a little bit, it will
add to your enjoyment of birding too.

Finally, I want to mention that all eBird data are made available through
the Avian Knowledge Network: (http://www.avianknowledge.net/). While
designed for the research and conservation community, anyone may go to the
AKN and download data. All data that are submitted to eBird are also sent to
the regional editors for the Bird Observer and to regional editors of North
American Birds.

Finally, I want to thank all of you who use eBird. And those who haven't
used it in a while, I'd ask that you consider coming back and seeing what's
new.

Best,

Marshall
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