I like your owl. :)

what a cool background, it looks like you are in a bubble :)

hello from northern Manitoba

greetings

Hello Kathy and panelists!

Will there be a recording or transcript available later?

Thank you!

where will that be posted?

thanks for hosting this event

Where will we be able to find the recording of this webinar>

I presume participants are all muted? I’m not seeing a way to ensure my mic/cam are muted.

Buffalo, Wyoming

Keizer Oregon

Vernal, Utah! :)

Delaware Ohio

From Minnesota!

Barrie Ontario

Southern California

Austin, TX

Hamilton Montana

east kootenays bc

Franklin, NC

greetings from alamosa, colorado

San Diego, CA

Mike from Westchester County, NY

Hocking Hills Ohio

Nick Parr, Florida DEP, Florida Keys

Valley Forge Audubon Society

Calling in from La Farge, Wisconsin!

Hi, Shawn from Whistler BC Canada

Viewing from NH

Cumberland, OH

Gloucester VA

No. Va.

Fifield, WI

Rexanne Bruno from Williamsburg VA

San Jose CBC, California compiler

Karen Johnson - Milwaukee, WI

BCVI Victoria, British Columbia

Mike Bishop - Alma, MI: LP

Good evening, I am James Wheat, Regional Editor for Kentucky CBCs.

Fredericton, NB

Charley Burwick, Springfield, Mo,

Virginia GWB CBC

Jarvie Alberta

Charlie Fisher from Tampa FL is here!

Howdy from Mariposa, CA

Joining from Vermont

Alison Sheehey, Weldon, CA. Hi Geoff!

Hi All, Rich Hoyer here from Eugene, OR, regional CBC editor for AZ, eBird reviewer since 2004 (not currently active as one).

from King Salmon, Alaska

Tucson, Arizona, Santa Catalina Mtn CBC

Bob Wells Omaha, NE

Edmonds, WA

Mark Pendleton from las Cruces NM

Joining from Burlington, VT - it’s our circle’s 74th CBC!

I amk in Port Aransas, TX

Hi Rick Johnson here; Sequoia Audubon 2 CBCs in San Mateo County CA

Good Evening From Saranac Lake, NY in the Northern Adirondacks.

I'm in Cochrane, Ontario Canada. I coordinate the Iroquois Falls, Ontario count.

Hello from SE British Columbia Canada

Cottage Grove Oregon

Hi, Yousif!!

Mary Freudenberg here from Brevard, NC Transylvania County.

Participating from Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Do I need to download the Blank Field Form spreadsheet again this year, or is it unchanged over the last couple of years?

Listening from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories!

From Dewberry, AB, Canada count ABVE (Vermilion AB)

Sascha Matecki from Rancho Alemán in Ecuador, south America

A longtime participant recently died. How do I edit the participant list in a case like this?

Long time, old friend!

Hi Lucy - so sorry to hear this! There is a remove option to remove them from the list participant list.

Listening from Michigan

Is there any way to allow all of us to see the questions and comments as they get asked? I can only see your responses.

have video ---audio off and on

Will the deceased participant's name remain in the historical record?

Are recordings and/or pishing allowed?

We had a question: How to remove a participant from the list in the CBC system. There is a "REM" remove column that can be used to tag them for removal from the list.

I assume we can request proof of vaccination?

Coming from Bitter Lake NWR Roswell, NM!!

Howdy Yossef - good to put a face to a name - Iain Carleton Place On

Question: Will the deceased participant's name remain in the historical record? Answer - yes

So, just to be clear re: the guidelines, can we pair non-pod folks as long as they wear masks in the car and when not socially distanced in the field?

My question is about how to record time and distance while driving.

Thanks Iain!

I'm just curious...how many participants are on the call?

Birds seen during count week but not on count day………….is that 3 days before and 3 days after the count day?

If a team has to drive a long distance from one spot to another within the sector, is that time/distance included? Or only if we are birding from the car?

I am new to this. What are some common errors/omittances/oddities that I should be aware of?

Please respond to my first question, about any updates to the blank field form. Thanks

I thought that it was OK to use recordings for Owling

I saw a reference somewhere to “Community Bird Count” Are we supposed to use that instead of Audubon Christmas Bird Count?

I would assume that would exclude pishing to or recordings being played to Endangered Species?!

For the San Francisco count, we asked people if they would share their vax status.

If they say no, we'll proceed as though they are not vaxed

Am I hearing that we can’t owl using “tape”? Or that we can’t use tape to call up a sparrow in a bush that we haven’t seen?

Might be careful about how you handle health information if you do ask for it. There are HIPPA laws to consider.

I think vaccination status may be PHI

Thank you for that clarification! That's been a lifelong question re: driving.

regarding driving distance - if we record a different species on the return along the same road, do we add the distance on the return?

Please make the clarification about not pishing to or playing recordings for Endangered Species!!!

Can I get an explanation on how the LC/HC designation should be used in compiling? I have been given conflicting information. I was taught it was based on relative trends in historic data for the circle (I have all previous years of our 40yo count in a binder), but some also say it just should indicated a record lowest count? The handbook is a little vague on this. Thank you :)

How are CW species used statistically?

I consider ANY time spent out of a vehicle, even when otherwise birding from a vehicle, as "foot time" because more birds can be detected out of the vehicle than in. Is this appropriate?

Meeting time is hard for west coast participants! I'm still at work and had to take "lunch" at 3:00pm to join.

Are rare bird forms absolutely required for unusual sightings, or is it up to the regional editor whether they should be submitted?

Can someone who is not a participant on count day, report a count week species?

Where do I find the downloadable data sheet?

what are the requirements for a species to require an RBA

Can my team have access to the new circle maps to plot their routes….which I have assigned?

All that is to say I wouldn’t advocate that compliers ask for written verification of participants vaccination status or copies of people’s vaccination cards, but Audubon should probably do some research on this and then disseminate to the compilers.

Are playbacks okay when owling? Within reason of course.

What is done with CW if it is reorded as zero?

Where is that downloading spreadsheet. I am also new to being a compiler this year.

Is there a list of rare and unusual bird species?

Presumably the use of audio playback is not discouraged/disallowed for owling, correct?

Disseminate guidance* to the compilers

What if a good bird is seen inside your sector on the day of the count by someone who's NOT on your CBC team? Some compilers like to "harvest" eBird postings.

What is the reason for (or use of) the count week species records?

More of a long term question and difficult in a COVID year, can defer answering for later: Our count is multicultural, multilingual and has BIPOC participants and we want to do outreach to bring more people into the count who historically haven’t been sufficiently included in this scientific field. If anyone else is working on something similar or hoping to, I would like to touch base with you. I’m the Wabasha count circle leader.

Will we ever be able to upload our participant list?

With the split/name change of Mew Gull to Short-billed & Common Gull, do I have to add Short-billed Gull to the species list?

Is there any way for us to upload our own tally sheet, (one that is actually in current AOS order!!!!) to the portol, thereby making it easier to enter our data?

for adding participants, are we required to include an email address, or can a participant be entered just by name? Some people are hesitant to provide personal information without knowing how it’s being used.

when is documentation required?

How can we notify you of mistakes that were made in submitted data of past years? I did this several months ago, and haven’t gotten any confirmation that you received it, or acted on it.

Getting the participants to understand party-hours and party-distance concept is the toughest part of compiling. Addressing questionable IDs is the next hardest.

Thanks!

if you have a crow roost, do you NOT add crows seen elsewhere in the circle?

explain min and max parties - what criteria is used

Why isn’t the species total automatic?

Should we count exotics/domestics?

Hours entered -we have 2 counters on the ski hills and the are give early access to the mountain. They actually do exceed the permitted hours. Do I just put in the max hrs allowed?

How are hybrids counted in species total?

If data are lost for an entire sector or part of a sector is there a specific protocol to deal with that?

Is there any inkling that the database will be updated to a more usable format in years ahead? :D Just curious….

It's ILLEGAL to use recordings for Endangered Species!!1

New compilers are often confused about how to make a correct species count, double counting subspecies and "sp." when they shouldn't

It is a take using recordings on Endangered Species.

we get a number of Black Duck x Mallard hybrids. Do we just note them on our list or ignore them?

When will you add 'sea state' to the field surveys

Use of recordings for owling? Didn't get answered.

I find the portal to not be user friendly. Is there a revamp in the works. Sandpoint, Idaho

Repeat that distance again

Can count week birds be gleaned from ebird lists not submitted by count participants?

Is there some procedure for making corrections to our historical counts?

Please encourage compilers to reach out to Regional Editors for any further questions outside this presentation! We are happy to help!

So only count one way

There was an additional recording question about owling particularly

Rare birds can be rare on one count and common on the neighboring count. Depends on habitat.

should I wait till next part of the webinar for eBird questions?

Most rare bird reports include time, date, location, species reported, etc but forget the most important part: the description of the bird.

I use HC and LC for anything (including effort) that falls more than one SD outside the previous mean.

thank you!!

should bird parties report their sightings for the day to the compilers first before going to ebird? It's confusing otherwise if parties go directly to ebird compilers have difficulty knowing the total for the day

FYI “Rare Bird” — We stress capturing habitats exact location, and behavior in addition to the ‘usual’ descriptions of appearance.

Please make species total automatic as I mess up here annually.

How about using eBird sightings on Count Day in your Circle, but not signed up on your participants?

Nice background, Ian. 🙂

Hi Susan - I wish we could make the species total automatic - that will require new funding, which we are working on!

What about an ebird report from someone who has not been “officially” part of the count? We have several excellent, very reliable birders who never participate in the count, but they’re out there during the count day.

Thanks, Kathy.

Hi Eileen - if the person who submits the data to eBird is not a pre-arranged participant, those data cannot be included in the CBC data.

https://ebird.org/news/ebirding-on-christmas-bird-counts

Ian and Marshall: For invited eBirders who might drop a checklist on count day outside the count circle (e.g., on the way to their assigned area), who can hide/remove it from the Trip Report? The Trip Report Owner? A Commenter, if they submitted the checklist? Both?

Endangered species are protected Nationally, so, I'm not quite sure why there would be a question about it being ILLEGAL to play tapes for endanger species!!! If Audubon Can't enforce this, who can!?

List of all California CBCs scheduled so far. Too many not listing on the Audubon site. https://www.natureali.org/cbcs.htm

Hi Tom - if those observers report in eBird but are not part of pre-arranged CBC participants, then those data cannot be included. Maybe a opportunity to recruit them?

Pro tip: Make sure you note time and distance (foot, car, etc.) in the Comments section of your eBird checklists for your CBC!

For the eBird Team: the new Trip Reports look to be a very helpful feature for compilers, but I am wondering if there are any plans to add functionality to export trip report data, ideally to Excel or CSV format. I ask because I have written a custom application to automatically import and compile structured spreadsheet data, and I currently use a third-party application from Kent Fiala (https://www.faintlake.com/eBird/compiler/) to create aggregated spreadsheets from multiple eBird checklists.

Hi Jennifer - We understand that the CBC portal needs an update and we are currently looking for funding for that.

Good question Ezra. The Trip Reports are very exciting and it is worth remembering that this is version 1. We try to iterate and improve on most functionality that we build in eBird, as adding a CSV download is almost certain to be in a version 2. We are definitely thinking about that as something that will be very useful for the 2022-2023 CBC season.

Where do we keep the party hours, and effort on eBird?

Hi Jay - for corrections to historical counts, email the CBC mailbox with the details of what needs to be corrected and we will do that for you.

Thanks for the question Bettina. Party hours and effort are not currently automatically tallied (but could be a future feature…though would need to be used with caution). Our current recommendation is to keep track of these as you normally would and enter the effort on the left side, just as Ian is showing in this Truro CBC example now...

I created a gmail account, solely for the count. I have all sector leaders share their checklist with that account which is used on one day only. Great way to stay socially distanced.

Hi Sue - re updating the CBC taxonomy to match eBird - we are working on a plan to fund an upgrade to our technology, which is what will be needed to update the taxonomy.

So I’m confused did he need to “log in” the effort data for the trip report, or was it generated by eBird from the check-lists?

Thanks Kathy. I was really thinking about only an unusual sighting by a non-participant. We actually had this happen a couple of years ago (Glaucous Gull in central NJ, seen only by one of these guys).

Ideally, participants will tally their effort and include it in the narrative for their area or section.

The trip reports are grouped for a given ebird user? Can you link trip reports for multiple users? (ie if you have sub-teams).

HOw did he combined the lists ? did

Can you now upload media on the mobile app?

Richard Bradley, the eBird Trip Reports do not automatically capture effort data. However, remember that eBird Mobile is a really easy way to use TRACKS in eBird Mobile to record precise distance (removing backtracking of course) and that can be really useful for calculating miles on foot or miles by car.

Hello Mike RE: The name of the program remains Christmas Bird Count, but we are exploring a long-term effort to make updates to the program, including making the program more inclusive.

Not all participants are computer literate, this just makes everything more confusing

Just three, Ian?

Karen - the downloadable field form is available through your reports menu in the compiler portal. You have to reformat the form however.

If you send a link to your trip report to the compiler, does he/she need to be an eBirder to see the data

Joni Ciarletta, Trip Reports can summarize checklists from multiple people. However, they have been designed for a single PARTY. So think about using trip reports just like we calculate “party hours” for CBCs. One Trip Report per party.

Josiah - To find out which species are considered rare in your area - consult your regional editor.

Hi Peter Hamel., these tool are available for those who find them helpful. You are welcome to compile using the same methods that have been working for you.

Would there be an advantage for the compiler to create this and send the link out to the counters? Or, does that make it impossible to check for duplicates, etc.

What? repeat about double-counting, please.

Sue Killeen, if someone else “joins” your trip, then their shared checklist versions will be included. This can be important especially when people might delete a species off their version of a list.

How can eBird help produce a sector report for a sector with multiple parties. Our party reports go to the sector lead, not the compiler directly.

Is there a distance limit on the trip report

In Trip Reports how does one select the areas and checklists to include

Rich De Carlo, there is no distance limit of Trip Reports.

Can we edit the eBird trip report to enter the actual miles (if we repeat one area, for example) and to eliminate the doubled birds

How do other party members connect to the team leaders trip report?

Can a trip report be sorted in the same order that Audubon requires?

are there instructions on how to connect indvidiual checklists to the trip report

How do we pass on names in a party/Sector?

I see the option to add people to the report. Is that how you combine all the people in different parts of your sector?

Kevin Brady, please see Kathy Dale’s response above: the CBC taxonomy (and sequence) is not yet updated to match eBird and not yet updated to match the latest AOS sequence.

As a compiler can I do a trip report of several submitted trip report

So the trip report goes by dates? If an ebird list is submitted by the user for something outside of the circle, will it pull that data too? Or does it know based on location?

So how is this different than using eBird Trip Summary. Does the trip report tie together all parties in a sector vs. just one party with the Trip summary.

How should we capture birds sighted BETWEEN bird locations?

Hi Holly - re: updating the CBC database - we are working on a plan to raise the needed funding to make those upgrades.

When Ian says that compilers can summarize trip reports, is that a manual calculation or something eBird generates?

bird locations

Trip Reports sound awesome! Does eBird trip reports duplicate sightings if checklists are shared in a party?

Can the eBird checklist be edited to include just those species likely to be observed or must one scroll through the whole list each time?

EBIRD locations—stupid autocorrect.

Could you please touch on how to use eBird when off the grid? Thank you.

Should I keep a separate paper list of birds seen while driving from one location to another and enter in ebird later?

Once I create a trip report, how do I add individual stops into the trip?

New this year we will have road team along a river as well as canoe on water. These are different parties but double counting will probably happen. How to resolve?

Prior to the introduction of trip reports some of us following your direction set up group accounts to facilitate compilation. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each?

Can we cull from all lists that were submitted to eBird on a given count day, provided they were within the Count Circle?

Tyson, Trip reports DO NOT double-count birds on shared copies of lists. A shared checklist is treated as a bird count from one party in eBird and thus counted only once.

Thanks, Steve Knox

Is there a provision for downloading a trip report to a spreadsheet? Is there a provision for emailing a trip report summary to participants who may not have an eBird account? The IOS app has had the emailing capability but it does not exist on Android apps nor on the web page.

Tyson, Trip reports DO NOT double-count birds on shared copies of lists. A shared checklist is treated as a bird count from one party in eBird and thus counted only once.

It helps if participants note if they believe they recorded the flock multiple times. As compiler I always use my extensive knowledge of status and distribution.

Can Compiler “join” all the eBird Trip Reports received?

Can these trip reports be created in eBird mobile? I am not seeing it.

Kevin Brady, please see Kathy Dale’s response above: the CBC taxonomy (and sequence) is not yet updated to match eBird and not yet updated to match the latest AOS sequence.

If a sector leader shares his checklists with sector participants, and one of those participants adds a species, will that show up in the Trip Report?

Is it a mistake to use roads as sector boundaries in that double coverage is likely or certainly at risk? To Hanley

Rich De Carlo, there is no distance limit of Trip Reports.

Maybe send out a text or to the compilation participants/section leaders to say where high visibility birds are as you’re looking at them e.g. “I’m seeing a flock of 200 Sandhills near x at 12:15” is anyone else able to see these birds? and let everyone know so if anyone else is seeing the same 200 from another location then they can reply and say oh I see those too and then there’s a record of it so they aren’t double counted.

How is this different than the current TRip Summary in eBird???

I don't see a response from Kathy Dale?

Sue Killeen, if someone else “joins” your trip, then their shared checklist versions will be included. This can be important especially when people might delete a species off their version of a list.

Is the instruction the same as last year, that if, due to covid, a team is not traveling together that would normally travel together, that still counts as a single party?

Can you do the same area twice during the same day - say once in the morning and once in the afternoon?

Hi Bettina - could you repeat your question - we have LOTS of questions and I may have overlooked your question. Thanks!

Want to be sure you’re driving within the circle at the time.

The COVID guidelines for all compilers can be found here: https://www.audubon.org/news/christmas-bird-count-compiler-announcements

I've been using eBird for our counts for a few years and have secondary accounts to which counters share to accumulate the results, which I then download and massage. It's a little tricky, but can work if you are geeky enough. The Trip Reports will make this a little easier for the non-geeks among us.

Jane, Jones, This is generally acceptable as long as you are careful not to count the same individual birds more than once and keep track of your effort.

Jane Jones, eBird trip reports and CBC protocol definitely allow you to visit the same spot twice. You just need to be extra careful about double counting and maybe you would submit an “incomplete” list for eBird in that situation and just report birds that are definitely new.

Why does Android Ebird mobile not have trip report feature?

I use the API to download CBC participant checklists. Do many people do that? Can the trip reports be downloaded through the API? Can I email with any specific questions on the API?

Repeat: For invited eBirders who might drop a checklist on count day outside the count circle (e.g., on the way to their assigned area), who can hide/remove it from the Trip Report? The Trip Report Owner? A Commenter, if they submitted the checklist? Both?

Marshall, are incomplete lists counted in the S&D statistics for ebird?

how can a compiler most effectively use these trip reports?

So there will be a Trip Report for each hotspot within your circle?

It looks great. Thank you for that additional functionality! Much appreciated.

how does ebird know a checklist belongs to a specific trip report. how is the connection made

Just in case you don’t know it … we are THRILLED that you have created this feature! It is wonderful!

I think the trip report is great. Thanks.

For your Trip Report, is "Truro" the circle name?

Thank you for your effort. I will review again. such an important contribution.

Did I understand this correctly? The effort data for each individual checklist do not get added to the trip report. Those effort data must be added later by the person submitting the trip list.

https://ebird.org/news/ebirding-on-christmas-bird-counts

Thanks Kathy, I had asked a questions earlier about adding our checklist (the one we provide our participants) to the Audubon portal so that the list would be in AOS order and current. Is this possible? then, Marshall added this to the chat; Kevin Bradly, please see Kathy Dale's response above: the CBC taxonomy (and sequence) is not yet updated to match the lat3est AOS sequence.-- Entering data in the old portal has taken us 5-7 hours to complete because of the incredibly antiquated list! I read somewhere something that made me believe we could upload our list and use it when entering our data to the portal, is that possible?

I already download a CSV spreadsheet for the ebird account and that is how I compile most of the CBC.

Seeing the questions about hybrids and exotics--they should definitely be tallied as individuals on your counts, but they won't count toward the species total. When an introduced species becomes established and is considered "countable" in a state/province, then it will count toward the species total.

And Hybrids don't count toward the species total.

Can Audubon use the same taxonomy as eBird? There was a lot of jumping around last year to get everything entered.

I will be asking my counters to NOT send me their Triup Reports but encouraging them to use it for their own convenience. It won’t be helpful to me because I’ll still have to copy that data over into my master sheet. To save me time and effort I am having my sector leaders send me a Google sheet with their list and time/effort info. The I can easily add to my master Sheet and use formulas to calculate totals. I don’t see Trip Reports reducing my workload on the back end.

HI Bettina - ok, thanks. Yes, we do know that the CBC portal needs a major upgrade and we are working on a plan to raise the funds to do that. We cannot update the taxonomy until we upgrade the database. And we don't currently have an upload feature. But we appreciate your concerns.

How does one start a TripReport? Do we enter under Submit, or is there a different tab? And to view, as compiler, a report that is shared, must the Compiler Accept (as you would do with a birding partner after a trip, which adds the data to your stats)

Where is the ovenbird in snow??!!

During data entry I find the inclusions of subspecies to be a confusing aspect and generaly unhelpful.

or just use "number space - start typing full bird name or four letter code" some people aren't aware of this.

Is eBird Mobile the App?

Thanks. This has been very helpful.

Ian’s snowy Overnbird was in Global Big Day in Ithaca two years ago! Not December!!!

He’s a cheater using that image!

Thank you all

eBird Mobile = eBird app

Would you please reiterate the statement about eBird mobile

THanks so much, I'm not sure what I was reading in the Compiler information that made it sound like we could upload our own checklist. Thanks for the clarification

Free download on for iOS and Android

So for logging birds I see driving between stops, I usually start an incidental list that isn’t using GPS - that I leave open the whole day until I’m done or take a break for lunch. (I use my odometer to track miles driven) and while I cant give my full attention to birding I will put any birds I see between stops that I don’t capture at one of the stops on that list. I should count all that driving time (that I compute by subtracting the sum the time birding on foot from the total time birding). Now my question is whether since it’s an incomplete list, maybe not all that time should count towards the driving effort, because I’m not able to try to observe every bird.

Can a new count circle still be started this year?

Hang in there Kathy! Margo & Peter

Find Trip Reports from My eBird…check the panel on the left side. It’s super easy and intuitive.

Steve Knox: How to solve two-party observations, one from the river road, the other on the water.

See also the front page story right under the CBC story on birds homepage at ebird.org

can you add your emails to the chat ?

will a recording of this be available?

CBC email is cbcadmin@audubon.org

thanks Kathy!!

Canadian specific CBC@birdscanada.org

An old count is gone from the ebird portal and wondering if it can be resurrected still?

very good, thank youGeoff

CBC portal not ebird

Thank you!

Can you start a trip report on ebird mobile? Can’t find it.

Michael Callan, for all day driving lists of Incidentals, that’s OK but we probably would want that entered at the county-level in eBird, since it is a very coarse location and not up to our site-specific standards for science grade data...

Thank you!

Thanks, Great Information!!!

Pls mention the two addresses we need to go to to start recording our data after the count

Excellent! Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you all!

Trip reports are started from ebird.org…not the app

thank you all

Thanks everyone—very helpful!

thanks to all of you -- this has been helpful.

Thank you, this was great!

Thannk youo

thx you all

TYSM!