Isaac Brace
Member
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I Didn't Think I Could Do it!!! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Isaac Brace
- Start date
wheatearlp
Well-known member
Wondering why Peter Kaestner's list isn't on the screenshot in the OP? Or does he no longer use e-bird?
lockbreeze926
Well-known member
I don't know anything about eBird, but my reading of that screenshot is that it lists how many checklists people have completed, not how many species they have seen
wheatearlp
Well-known member
Ah, I see. Must read things more closely 🤦
Mark Harper
World Birder
It is the number of complete checklists completed this year.
Isaac is now at 9,912 complete lists this year, which is 36 per day, including 10 lists this morning from his garden, presumably, each of 3 minutes long. Not sure why anyone would do this rather than one 30 minute list.
Isaac is now at 9,912 complete lists this year, which is 36 per day, including 10 lists this morning from his garden, presumably, each of 3 minutes long. Not sure why anyone would do this rather than one 30 minute list.
mjh73
Well-known member
I..... I.....have no words 🙃
wheatearlp
Well-known member
Seems weird to me too, but takes all sorts 🤷
Isaac Brace
Member
Good point man, see, I am trying to get an accurate representation for science about the times that the birds most frequent, I know, completely, what all of you must be thinking, "This has to be fake" but it actually isn't. Complete checklists can be a very interesting topic though, I'm trying to get an accurate representation about the times that each bird arrives, it seems weird, but this is true, because I will go inside after about 4-5 minutes and then make a new checklist.
Isaac Brace
Member
I promise you it isn't fake, I can explain, reach out on FB, please.
Without any disrespect to the original poster [who is clearly to be applauded], if you want to win this, just go to your local park and submit one checklist for each individual bird you see. Rinse and repeat about 45 times (based on my local park). Alternatively use another app which allows you to capture sightings individually but in a single "session"; then submit those to ebird without the hassle of designating all those new separate lists by hand
Isaac Brace
Member
But it won't count as a complete though, and completes are the best way to submit data to eBird. It would be incidental, and that would look even worse...
But it's complete if I say it's complete. The problem is that a "trip" is ill-defined. You are encouraged to break longer trips into shorter ones, and at one point at least you could not upload traces/distances of over a certain no of kms [I fell foul of this in the Masai Mara]. If I choose to break my visit to the park into 200 individual observation mini-trips then so be it.
I am very sure the community of eBird reviewers would frown upon that.
Niels
But they actually encourage you to divide your trip into smaller chunks—at least as far as I understand the guidance. Ebird somewhat recognises that the proper way to record is the actual location you see each bird.
From ebird: Complete Checklists and Birding as Your Primary Purpose
If you on purpose make a new checklist for every bird even if they are seen mere seconds away, then I do not think you can in good conscience tick complete checklist.
Niels
If you on purpose make a new checklist for every bird even if they are seen mere seconds away, then I do not think you can in good conscience tick complete checklist.
Niels
This just shows the arbitrariness of the approach. I know someone who does more or less this: notes individuals he's seen only minutes before and which are clearly the same individuals. It means he's supposedly seen >2x the number of birds I've seen, even when I've been standing next to him. He's clearly >2x the birder I am !
What to do when:
- Thick cover makes it impossible to see far. Then you'd have to move to see new birds. Potentially a legitimately new list
- You have a long journey (day trip to the Masai Mara): how to divide
In Ebird, a traveling list is a completely valid type of list as long as you stay within reasonably the same habitat and keep it at a reasonable distance. If you have a day trip in Masai Mara: I do not know if habitat is uniform (I have never been); an area around a river is not the same as the middle of a grassland area. Likewise, the effort is not the same when stopping the vehicle and looking around vs while driving, especially not while being the driver. Those should therefore be separate lists.
the most extreme example of uniform habitat is a pelagic, where the advice is this (from: eBird Protocols)
Niels
wheatearlp
Well-known member
Sounds far too complicated. I'll stick to BirdTrack (although that has it's drawbacks too).
I think that is probably because we are discussing principles. In reality, it is possible to use eBird in many ways, but not all are ideal for the data analysis that can happen with the data.
Niels