1079 checklists later...now what?

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chrish
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1079 checklists later...now what?

Post by chrish »

I think I finally have all my birds in Ebird, at least all the species I have seen (1908).

I'm missing a few species from some countries, for example
Avisys says I've seen 560 species in Mexico, ebird says 541,
Avisys says I've seen 220 in Australia, ebird says 216, etc.

I can do some updating by comparing my species lists for those different countries to get at least 1 record for each species I have seen per country, then per state.

But at least all the species are there! I only "lost" one bird during the process (Buff-breasted Flycatcher, which I must have misidentified in 1986 in Hidalgo, Mexico).

Anyone else got all their data into Ebird yet? Anyone going to try?
If you do, is your old listing program going to see the light of day again?

I'm stuck on this one. I have the BirdLog app on my phone which automatically uploads my sightings from the field to Ebird. I wonder if I am going to bother entering them into Avisys anymore. Old habits die hard though :?
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Andy Avram
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:37 am
Location: NE Ohio

Re: 1079 checklists later...now what?

Post by Andy Avram »

Interesting on the difference in species numbers. I know ebird is based off AOU and Clements, what is Avisys based off?

And how do you lose a bird? Did the system tell you that Buff-breasted Flycatchers shouldn't be where you saw it?

Lastly, I just started using eBird. I like the simplicity of it, but I probably will not move my life list over to it. Right now I like my list in it's Excel format, and besides I can keep my other lists in the same format. I am not good about consistently recording data, so I am only going to eBird my county (and maybe select species to keep it manageable and not turn it into a chore.
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Curtis Hart
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Location: Hillsdale County, Michigan

Re: 1079 checklists later...now what?

Post by Curtis Hart »

I have an ebird account, but don't use it much. While I like Avisys as birding software, I mainly use it for mammals (thanks again Chrish). Since August of 2011 I have recorded every mammal sighting. Between NAHERP and all the effort I put into mammals, I don't have an interest in entering a lot of data on birds. I may add a list here or there, especially in the winter when I am purely birding, but it won't be a regular thing.

Chris, will you still use avisys for mammals and herps? Do you use it much for anything but birds?






Curtis
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chrish
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Re: 1079 checklists later...now what?

Post by chrish »

Andy Avram wrote:Interesting on the difference in species numbers. I know ebird is based off AOU and Clements, what is Avisys based off?
Clements.
And how do you lose a bird? Did the system tell you that Buff-breasted Flycatchers shouldn't be where you saw it?


When I entered it, it asked me to document the record since that bird was "rare" in that particular area. Unfortunately, I saw it in 1986 when the only field guide to Mexico (Peterson) didn't have range maps or even good descriptions of the bird's ranges. And I didn't understand Mexican biogeography at the time so I couldn't know.
I suspect what I saw was a Tufted Flycatcher, which I've seen many times since. With no previous experience with the species and little experience with Empids, it was an easy mistake to make.
Lastly, I just started using eBird. I like the simplicity of it, but I probably will not move my life list over to it. Right now I like my list in it's Excel format, and besides I can keep my other lists in the same format. I am not good about consistently recording data, so I am only going to eBird my county (and maybe select species to keep it manageable and not turn it into a chore.
You can import your Excel lists into ebird with a little tweaking.
The reason I love the BirdLog app is it makes it easy. Check off the birds while you are in the field on your phone, submit to ebird, done!
Curtis Hart wrote:I have an ebird account, but don't use it much. While I like Avisys as birding software, I mainly use it for mammals (thanks again Chrish). Since August of 2011 I have recorded every mammal sighting. Between NAHERP and all the effort I put into mammals, I don't have an interest in entering a lot of data on birds. I may add a list here or there, especially in the winter when I am purely birding, but it won't be a regular thing.
Chris, will you still use avisys for mammals and herps? Do you use it much for anything but birds?
Frankly, now that I am entering all my birds into Ebird and my herps into NAHerp, the only non-birds that go into Avisys are lifers or particularly interesting sightings. My last entry was a Stoat I saw in New Zealand. Prior to that, I couldn't tell you what my last non-bird entry was. It is basically only for my lifelist. I don't keep all the sightings like I used to.

I don't record every bird I see like some people do. I record birds in Ebird when they are:
- my first for an area (county, city, state, nation)
- my first for the area for the year
When I enter a record, I usually try to enter all the other birds I saw with the bird of interest.
If I am on a birding trip to a refuge or park, I record everything in BirdLog since it only takes a few seconds.
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Curtis Hart
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Location: Hillsdale County, Michigan

Re: 1079 checklists later...now what?

Post by Curtis Hart »

chrish wrote:Frankly, now that I am entering all my birds into Ebird and my herps into NAHerp, the only non-birds that go into Avisys are lifers or particularly interesting sightings.
I don't use Avisys a lot for North American herps, but NAHERP's big failing for listing is the NA part. NAHERP is MUCH better for recording subspecies though. I still use Avisys for international trips and I much prefer Avisys's report making abilities to what I've seen on NAHERP and eBird.
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