[Maine-birds] Thoughts on using eBird for pelagic trips

Last Saturday, a fair number of folks on the Maine listserve enjoyed a terrific and productive day looking at seabirds in the Gulf of Maine.

I frequently use eBird to look at the abundance and distribution of Maine birds. I was impressed with the number of individual reporters who submitted eBird lists immediately after the trip. As reasonable as this seems, it presents some difficulties for those of us who seek fairly precise information.

Great and South Polar skuas were among the highlights and there are now several distantly separated eBird pins that refer to the same skua. That's not such a big deal in this one instance because it doesn't take too long to click on 7 pins and figure out that they all refer to the same bird, although the location remains fuzzy.

But think about what will happen 10 years from now when there are 10+ pelagic trips in the GoM. There will be dozens, and eventually hundreds, of pins that are redundant. It will become impossible - or very tedious - to sift through all the pins and to figure how many skuas - or other seabirds - actually occur in the GoM.

Thankfully, Doug Hitchcox assumed responsibility for a master trip list and recorded our location and consulted with several leaders about numbers of birds seen on each leg of the trip. Doug's lists reflect accurate estimates and locations for the birds. Doug shared his eBird lists with 17 eBird users so we are all sharing the same pin - no redundancy! This really helps those of us who mine eBird data

It's very easy to edit a shared list so that it reflects the birds you actually saw. If you didn't see the Manx Shearwater, you can delete it with a click. If you recorded twice as many Great Shearwaters, double the number. You can add your own pics, etc...

I know Doug would be pleased to share his eBird lists and I can do the same, now that Doug has circulated his list. Just send me your eBird user name and I'd be happy to forward the lists.

If you do take this option, please delete your original list.

I should add that this suggestion is my own and doesn't necessarily express eBird's view, although I suspect we concur on this. I know eBird wants bird sightings to be as accurate as possible.

And as Maine birders continue to venture forth on other pelagic trips in the GoM (Portland, whale watching, etc…), I hope someone (assuming multiple birders) is designated as the eBird scribe for that trip, and that the master list is then shared among the group.

What splendid weather with Sharp-shins passing overhead.

Best, Peter





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