Ninety years of birdwatchers’ notes going online
As a person with a background in citizen science (the term used to describe projects where a network of volunteers collect observations and send them to scientists), this Yahoo! headline caught my eye:
Ninety years of birdwatchers’ notes going online
For most of the last century, 6 million notecards containing observations made by bird watchers on bird abundance, arrival, departure, and location have been stored in dusty boxes, moved from here to there, and narrowly escaped the giant recycle bin more than once.
These “migration observer” cards are contributions made to the North American Bird Phenology Program which dates back to the 1880s. Considering the Christmas Bird Count was founded in 1900, the NABP may be the oldest citizen science program on the planet! That’s neat stuff. In its heyday, involved about 3,000 participants.
Volunteers all over the country are taking handfuls of cards and typing their contents into a computer database.
The article quotes Jessica Zelt, coordinator of the North American Bird Phenology Program at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, “This is the longest and most comprehensive legacy data set on bird migration that we know to exist,” and investigators say it will be invaluable for examining the effects of climate change on bird behavior.
If you have any time to spare, think about volunteering your typing skills to this colossal but historic effort. It is exciting to think whose notes might wind up in your stack. Will it include scribbles from illustrious birders such Arthur Allen? Frank Chapman? Or Alexander Skutch? Only one way to find out!
Visit the North American Bird Phenology program website for more.
********************************
* Phenology is the branch of science focused on the relations between climate and periodic biological phenomenon.
This is NOT to be confused with bird phrenology, however, a practice where ornithological “scientists” feel the bumps and fissures of bird skulls, then scratch their chins, twirl their mustaches, adjust their rims, and predict whether a bird was vain, clever, proud, carnivorous, courageous, gifted with music, or had a talent for architecture.
The truth is in the date.
