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Re: Bird count going on now



Hi, Josh (& Carolinabirders)-

Josh, you make a very important point, and I'm glad you didn't write just
to me but to the Carolina list. We work very hard to spread the word about
the count so that we can get a "snapshot" of late-winter bird populations
and look for distribution patterns over time. We need all eyes in order to
get this snapshot. In return, we hope you all see this as "your" project;
we are very interested in your opinions about the data and are grateful
when knowledgeable birders like you take the time to peruse the sightings
for your area and respond to us about them. We consider this a vital part
of our editing process.

Be assured that much filtering does occur that the average user doesn't
see; these filters are mostly for apparently rogue numbers. We will, as
soon as possible, edit ALL data; for the GBBC, editing begins as soon as
reports start coming in. Hearing from experienced birders greatly enhances
this process. 

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a scientific institution, and you can be
sure that before anything is analyzed, it is carefully edited. National
Audubon is also keenly aware of the challenges that come with large-scale
bird surveys such as this. The benefits vastly outweigh the deficits.

Please continue to contact us as the data come in. We are very interested
in your opinions.

Allison Wells
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road.
Ithaca, NY 14850
http://birds.cornell.edu





At 02:54 PM 2/19/00 -0500, you wrote:
>On Fri, 18 Feb 2000, Allison Wells wrote:
>> 
>> Today is the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count (February 18-21),
>> and reports rushing in. As of 5pm we're approaching 2600 checklists.
>
>I just submitted my totals for Friday; so far for today, the most 
>noteworthy addition is 5 Purple Finches.
>
>However, it looks like this study is suffering from the same deficiency 
>as the NAS' Christmas Bird Counts, namely a lack of editorial filtering 
>on the data. I just checked out the 2000 totals so far and noted reports 
>of TWO American Tree Sparrows and TWO White-crowned Pigeons (!!!!), as 
>well as a number of reports that are possible but seem unlikely for any 
>residential part of the state at this time. For instance, one report of 
>20 Barn Swallows, which seems awfully early; and a report of two 
>Black-capped Chickadees, which certainly occur somewhere in NC, but out 
>of the range of almost everyone's backyards. And that's just for NC. 
>Glancing at the SC reports I see that, yes, there is a Great Crested 
>Flycatcher; think that report came from Hilton Head? Does anyone on the 
>listserv have supporting evidence for these sightings?
>
>Josh
>
>
>
>Joshua S. Rose
>Duke University
>Department of Zoology
>
>jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
>http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/
>
>
>