The gadget at the right hand part of this blog webpage is called BirdTrax. It is a great way to incorporate real-time citizen science data into my blog. I set up the BirdTrax gadget with customized parameters, as instructed on their website, to display bird sightings from my immediate area (Long Island, NY, USA).
The bird sightings that are displayed are taken from ebird and BirdTrax lets me know when rare or otherwise interesting birds are seen in my area. ebird is a progressive concept that allows anybody, mostly enthusiastic bird watchers, to submit observations of birds utilizing a standardized system of effort, gps location, and quality control. ebird allows bird watchers to record all of their sightings, thus keeping a running list of all the species seen and the different areas visited. The overall package is an enticing way to contribute to ongoing ornithology. The data can be accessed, after a permission request, to perform academic studies or otherwise examine bird phenomenons. Over 100,000 user have generated over a million lists or data sets creating ample opportunity to conduct research.
Oh, and of course birds rely on the wind...especially the migrating species. There are several types of migration strategies in North America: neo-tropical, short distance, residents, and dispersers. Do some research if you are curious...it can be complicated even within the same species of bird.
No comments:
Post a Comment