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Re: request of eBird users re "complete checklist" question

From:

Mark Schilling

Reply-To:

Mark Schilling

Date:

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 13:34:42 -0500

I spent 10 years doing field studies of marine mammals in New England, so I appreciate the importance of data that can be confidently used for statistical analysis. I have a mental 'default' answer of 'No' to the Complete Checklist'question, so that I have to think each time if I really should say that I did identify all birds that I could at that location.
I do wonder about the option to choose 'Yes' for a Complete Checklist when using the 'Incidental' observation protocol. It just seems that almost by definition (and description by eBird) that these are not complete...
On somewhat related note, I'd also like to know if there is a way for us to see a quantification of our eBirding effort; e.g., I would be interested to know how many hours of birding in MD (or a given county, or 'patch') I reported to eBird in 2011, and the number of species and/or individual birds seen in that given time at that location.
Mark Schilling, Kent Island, MD

>>...If, in your excitement, you didn't remember to take at least a brief 
look around, I recommend answering "no" to the complete checklist 
question. Although we should all strive to answer "yes" to the complete 
checklist question, there's no shame in answering "no" every once in 
awhile - quite the opposite - it means you're taking care that you're 
entering your data properly.

Rob Ostrowski

On 2/24/2012 8:14 PM, Sherman Suter wrote:
> At the same time that eBird provides lots of useful features to help one 
chase rare birds (and keep track of one's lists), the system is also intended 
to accumulate useful data for analyses of trends in bird populations and 
distribution. Reflecting that end, the data entry pages include the question 
"Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you were able to 
identify?" The answer to this question should serve as a filter for separating 
checklists intended to add a tick to the observer's personal lists from those 
that could be taken to represent a survey of the birds present at a given 
location and date. 

Sherman

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