Message from Liam, Tori, Holger and George:
Dear Philadelphia eBird users,
We wanted to alert Philadelphia birders of a change for eBird review here in Philadelphia.
To start, we’d like to thank Doris McGovern for over a decade of service as eBird reviewer for the city/county. Doris is now moving on to other pursuits. Not only has it been a monumental effort for her to keep on top of the ever-growing number of sightings and reports and to try and “keep the data as clean” as possible, but Doris has also overseen an era during which the growth of birding in Philadelphia is unprecedented. Doris has worked tirelessly and often thanklessly for years, and all of us who pursue birds in the Philly area owe her a tremendous debt for her curation of the bird sightings in Philadelphia.
Thank you Doris!!!
Under the guidance of Doris, PA state reviewer Holly Merker, and the Cornell Lab’s Jenna Curtis, the new eBird review editors for Philadelphia are Liam Hart, Victoria Sindlinger, Holger Pflicke, and George Armistead. The four of us will now try and manage together what Doris was doing all on her own. As we make this transition and forge ahead into the future, we would like to ask for your help and have a few notes, suggestions, and reminders.
Media helps
Photos, video and especially audio recordings greatly help the curation of eBird sightings/data. Especially for flagged species and numbers, any media you can provide helps a lot. We’d challenge you to try and build your media library in eBird, as a healthy exercise for both you individually and to the benefit of other birders and for the dataset too. If you take time to rate the media (from 1 to 5 stars) that will also help eBird and the algorithms used by Merlin to identify birds.
Flagged numbers: Counting and reporting birds
For the sake of the data, an exact count or an estimate of the number for each species is best. If you are dealing with dozens or hundreds of an individual species, a ballpark estimate is fine and much preferred to an “X”. It isn’t that hard to estimate generally, so we strongly discourage the use of “X”. While very often common species are under-counted, be aware too that highly vocal birds (e.g. wrens) are subject to being over-counted. Try to keep track of where you are located vs a territorial bird, or what direction birds are moving if they appear to be in migration, as opposed to birds swirling around where they might then may be double- or triple-counted.
Flagged species: Providing details on scarce/rare species
If you are reporting a species flagged as rare, please do your best to provide detailed information on the bird’s structure (size/shape), its behavior and/or the habitat it was making use of, its plumage, in addition to any info you might know about its age/sex or anything else. The more information you can provide upfront, the better position an eBird reviewer will be in to confirm reports into the data set. Some observers will list a rare bird as “continuing” if they were not the first to locate it. Always, a detailed description is preferred. And if you are seeing a bird at a location where the bird hasn’t been seen for the prior ~3 days or so, we strongly recommend a detailed description.
Problematic birds in Philadelphia
Some species are reported more often than they are actually seen. Others fly under the radar. Some present routine problems for eBirders or reviewers, or both. A few to keep in mind include:
– Little Blue Heron vs Snowy Egret
Both occur irregularly, but juvenile Little Blue is far more regular. Snowy Egret seems to be reported more often than actually seen. Photos are most helpful when possible.
– Black-capped vs Carolina Chickadees: Black-capped (BCCH) are rare in Philly and also very difficult to separate from the abundant Carolinas (CACH) here. Its status here is further complicated by the occurrence of hybrids. How many BCCH vs hybrids we actually have in Philly remains unknown. If you submit a report of Black-capped, do your best to describe why you believe it is the species, and also do your best to obtain audio recordings of its vocalizations or photos of the bird.
– Philadelphia Vireo vs Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo (PHVI) despite the name, is only a scarce migrant through the city, occuring in a narrow window, almost exclusively in September. Warbling Vireos (WAVI) are an abundant breeder, and fall birds are especially warm and sometimes yellowish in color. All reports of Philadelphia Vireo are best accompanied with photos. If photos are not possible, please provide a detailed description of why the bird appeared a PHVI and not a WAVI.
-Olive-sided Flycatcher (OSFL) vs. E. Wood-Pewee
OSFL is a scarce migrant in spring and fall. Reports are best accompanied by photos. If photos are not possible, please provide a detailed description.
-Sharp-shinned vs Cooper’s Hawk
This pairing is more difficult than many realize. There is no shame in using Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk on your checklist if you’re uncertain and all birders should be uncertain some % of the time.
-Empidonax flycatchers
These are among the toughest regularly occurring birds to identify. Please try and record and photograph birds in the genus Empidonax when you encounter them. Willow is a common migrant and breeder here. Acadian is a regular breeder in some parts of the city. The others occur only as migrants, and many are misidentified and/or impossible to evaluate for eBird editors. The more info you can provide the editors, the better chance we have of being able to confirm these sightings. Also, there is absolutely no shame and in many cases it is actually more advisable to report individuals that cannot be positively identified as Empidonax sp.
-non adult male ducks, Scaup, etc.
Here again photos can really help. Female or eclipse male Mallards are often reported as American Black Ducks. Greater Scaup are reported in small/shallow water bodies where Lesser is more expected. Despite usually sitting out in the open, at length, many waterfowl are misidentified.
– Horned Larks and American Pipits
Both scarce or infrequent visitors to the city, both are most often detected as flyovers by birders experienced with the species from elsewhere. Outside of Philly, these birds are regular in farm fields, airports and open space, but with a dearth of such habitats in Philly, we seldom see them on the ground here, but it does happen on occasion. Though difficult to obtain at times for these, photos and especially audio recordings are strongly encouraged to try and document their actual (vs. reported) occurrence here.
– Catharus thrushes
All can be confused with one another if not seen well or if light is poor, or if just unfamiliar. Gray-cheeked and Bicknell’s are inseparable except possibly by song. Photos and/or audio recordings are strongly recommended.
-loons, grebes, shorebirds, gulls, hawks,
All of these groups can be tricky and distance and weather can make them all the more so. Photo documentation really helps for review.
Note that you can learn a lot more about eBird best practices at the eBird Essentials course Bird Academy | The Cornell Lab | Courses Tutorials Videos (allaboutbirds.org) (at the bottom of the explore tab) and under the Help tab on eBird.
Finally, it is important to remember that while eBird functions as the default listing software for many of us, first and foremost it is meant to be a database for tracking and monitoring bird populations. At times those two things can run counter to one another. As reviewers, our main concern is the integrity of the data, and this at times requires us to make judgement calls about reports for which only little or complicated information is available. We vow to do our best in this regard. Just as submitters of checklists make mistakes, as reviewers we know too that at times we will make errors. We vow to do our best on behalf of the birds and birders in Philadelphia.
Thanks for your dedication to the birds of Philadelphia.
Sincerely,
Liam, Tori, Holger and George