[mou] Fwd: [BIRDCHAT] eBird--Are you using it???

[Jim Williams]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brian Sullivan <bls42@CORNELL.EDU>
Date: June 26, 2006 12:02:18 PM CDT
To: BIRDCHAT@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: [BIRDCHAT] eBird--Are you using it???
Reply-To: Brian Sullivan <bls42@CORNELL.EDU>

Birders

I've been wanting to post a message for a while about eBird=20
(www.ebird.org).
  This program is really taking off across the Western Hemisphere, and I
really think that many of you would enjoy the benefits provided by this=20=

free
online birding tool.  In addition to bringing your attention to this
application, I'd like to engage in some discussion about what you might=20=

like
or dislike about the program.  We are in the process of building a third
version, and having your collective input can help us steer its=20
development.

I invite you to take a look at eBird (www. ebird.org).  This online
collaborative project between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and=20
Audubon has
recently been updated (and soon will be again!), and now provides=20
birders
with free access to this extraordinary online checklist program and=20
database.

eBird is not only a warehouse of observational data, it's an online tool
that allows you to record, retrieve, and archive your data, all while=20
making
your efforts available to scientists interested in using these data for=20=

bird
conservation.  New features include a more comprehensive listing=20
capability
found on the "My eBird" pages, which include automated listing=20
capabilities
down to the county level in each state.  It's simple, you enter your
observations into the database, and eBird keeps all your lists for you.
Coming soon (late summer) will be the ability to bulk upload data from=20=

your
personal databases and from AviSys directly to eBird.

Geographic coverage is also expanding.  We now cover all of the US,=20
Canada
and Mexico, and eBird has recently been launched in Puerto Rico, the
Dominican Republic and Haiti.  Plans are in the works for=20
collaborations in
the near future with Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, as well as
several other islands in the Caribbean.  The goal is to implement eBird
across the whole of the Western Hemisphere eventually, allowing bird
monitoring at scales heretofore unimaginable, and allowing birders to=20
keep
comprehensive lists on the site.

eBird is backed up by a group of regional experts who have created=20
filters
to control data quality.  As these regions become more refined, and new
filters are created, the database will be even more clean and precise. =20=

At
minimum we have one filter working in each state/province, but in many
states, like California, we are currently working on county-based=20
filters.

As more people participate in eBird the value of the data set will=20
increase
exponentially.  This May we recorded over 500,000 bird observations, and
gathered over 30,000 checklists=97a massive amount of data.  I invite =
you=20
to
browse the web site, explore the data output available in your area=20
through
the "View and explore data" pages, and please enter your own=20
observations
into the system.  If you get out birding this weekend just record the=20
birds
you see at each location, log in to www.ebird.org, and join the bird
conservation revolution!

Brian Sullivan
Monterey, CA


--=20
Brian L. Sullivan
eBird Project Leader
< www.ebird.org>
Photographic Editor,
Birds of North America Online
< http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/BNA/>
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850

Photographic Editor,
North American Birds
American Birding Association
< www.americanbirding.org>

bls42@cornell.edu
609-694-3280
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