4.+Count+Birds+for+Conservation!


 * Lesson 4: Count Birds for Conservation!**


 * Indoor and Outdoor**


 * What do I need?**
 * Bird Journal
 * Clipboards
 * Pencils
 * Pocket Naturalist Guide or other hand-held resource (one per group or pair)
 * Binoculars (recommended)
 * Computer with Internet access if possible, connected to a projector
 * "You can be a Citizen Scientist" video (CD)

• Recruit extra helpers, if possible, for the bird count • Visit the eBird website and get registered. You will create a class account by entering a username, password and your email address. You may do this step in advance of the lesson because the username and password are created only once.
 * Getting Ready...**

To begin you must log onto www.ebird.org/. If you need to translate the page to Spanish, this option is available on the right-hand side of the screen. Then select "Register as a New User" on the left-hand side of the screen. Follow the easy directions until you are officially registered.

Run through the entire data entry process on your own (refer to BirdSleuth-Briefs) by observing a bird and entering it on the web site as a casual observation. Then, make a plan for how you and your students will get the data entered (this largely depends on your access to computers with internet. For example, will you summarize counts as a class and then you, the teacher, enter the data? Or might one or a small group of students enter data?). *Are you posing this question to the teacher?

eBird data entry requires the use of a computer with an internet connection, and we understand that not all teachers and students will have easy access to these resources. Or, you may not feel comfortable undertaking the data entry yourself. However, we would still strongly encourage you to keep records of your bird observations and counts, even if you are unable to enter this data into eBird in the short- or long-term. The process of collecting and recording data is still a valuable educational experience for students, and one that will make them more aware of their environment. It is also important to monitor birds in conjunction with the class' chosen conservation project, to help you and your students evaluate whether planting trees or educating the community about protecting birds has helped improve local bird populations.
 * ALTERNATIVES TO ENTERING EBIRD DATA**

Here are some alternative approaches to the activity:
 * Collaborate with a local centre, such as a biological station or an environmental non-governmental organization.
 * Find out if they would be willing to collect the data from you and your students and enter it into eBird on the class’ behalf.
 * Find out if you and your class could enter the data using the station or organization’s computers with the help of one of their volunteers/employees.
 * Have your students continue using their Bird Journals even after you finish teaching them the BirdSleuth lessons. They could go outside and observe birds once a week (or more!) and record the species they see. Whether or not they ever submit their data, the act of observing, recording, and keeping this record of the birds they see is an important part of the citizen science process.


 * Big Idea:** Students will observe and identify birds during a stationary or traveling count; enter their count data into the eBird database; and learn how entering their count data contributes to bird conservation efforts.

Birds are ideal objects of study for a whole range of scientific questions. Birds have world-wide distribution and they are abundant in species and rich in adaptation. Monitoring birds through citizen science provides important scientific knowledge about bird distribution, abundance, and population trends. It also provides insights into local areas that can contribute to understanding, conserving, and managing the earth’s natural systems.
 * Background:**

1. Students will be able to describe and implement a count protocol. 2. Students will be able to explain two ways that scientists use data from citizen science counts. 3. Students will be able to describe the purpose of citizen science and the eBird database. 4. Students will be able to enter data into this database.
 * Learning Objectives**


 * Activity**

I don't think it is worth investing in anything technology-related right now... once we get the basics up and running successfully I think we can worry about such add-ons, especially in light of the fact that a lot of schools won't have access to technology.
 * 1. Skit Activity**
 * Watch citizen science video:** [] (this will be translated into Spanish)

Explain citizen science. To get your students thinking even more critically about the value of citizen science, divide them into 3 groups. Each group will act out a different scenario involving scientists and citizen scientists.
 * 1) In the first scenario, the scientists have no citizen volunteers to help them collect data, and this limits their work a great deal.
 * 2) In the second scenario, scientists have the help of one or two citizens, and this benefits their work a little but not a lot.
 * 3) In the third scenario, the students represent how thousands of volunteers submitting bird observations has contributed greatly to science.

Ask: • How do you feel about becoming a citizen scientist? • Why do you think it is important to correctly identify the birds we see?

Tell students that they soon will become citizen scientists. In the next class, they will go outside to count birds and then send their count data to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.


 * 2. Count Birds!**

Prepare to conduct a count by explaining the protocol and establishing any expectations you have for outdoor bird watching. Explain to the students the information that they need to record in their Bird Journals while in the field (count, site name, date, start time, total birding time, number of people in the group, bird species, and number of individuals seen for each species). All of this information must be gathered each time students count birds. Tell the students that they should count all the birds that they see and hear from the count area or along the count route.

Remind the students it is very important that they identify birds correctly, and get an accurate count of the birds they can identify. Brainstorm a plan to conduct a class stationary or traveling count and develop guidelines to ensure that bird identification and counting are done accurately.

Discuss these issues by asking: • Where will we count birds? Where will we stand? What path will we take? • How do you think we’ll have to behave to make sure we see as many birds as possible? (quiet, still, careful watching.) • How can we be sure we don’t misidentify a bird? • How can we avoid counting the same bird more than once? For example, in early counts, guidelines might include that for a bird to be officially counted, at least two students must see or hear and positively identify the bird. Take students outside to count birds for at least 15–20 minutes.


 * 3. Summarize the Count and Enter Data**

When you return to the classroom, list the names of birds the students have seen, and how many individuals of each species they saw. Transfer this master (class) list to a master list in the teacher's Bird Journal that will serve as the official tally sheet for the class. This is the count you will add to the eBird database in the next lesson.

As students watch and follow along with the steps in the eBird Instructional Handout, enter the count data you summarized.

You may wish to review the observation types (casual observation, stationary count, and traveling count). Decide which count protocol you used.

Enter and submit bird count data. If it is not possible to project the data entry process onto a screen in front of the class, use the eBird Instructional Handout to review the process with the students.


 * 4. Make a Plan to Continue Citizen Science**

Tell the students that they will continue to regularly observe and count birds and enter their data and create a class plan for data collection with your students, deciding:

• What kind of count to do (i.e., stationary, traveling) • Where counts will take place • How long each count will last (recommended: 15-30 minutes) • How often you will conduct counts (i.e., twice a week, weekly, every other week, monthly) • Who will enter data (you may want to develop a class schedule, with pairs or triads entering data)

Keep the teacher's Bird Journal with all of your completed master lists in one place so that students can see the accumulation of data. (If the data are entered online, they will also be available through the eBird web site.) Periodically assign questions that encourage students to review the data. For example, you might ask: • What is the most commonly seen species in our count area(s)? • What is the least common? • Which species do we see in the largest groups? • Have there been any changes in the species we’ve seen over the past two months?

Optionally, you can ask students to visit eBird and ask/answer their questions about birds using the “View and Explore” tab in eBird. eBird allows anyone to easily view the data that has been submitted by eBirders all over the world. There are maps, line graphs, and charts that can easily be created.

Some teachers express concern that their students’ data are not good enough to be included in the eBird database. Birding skills are critical to entering accurate data, and the preceding investigations were designed to give students skills and practice in identifying birds. Let students know why their data are important and need to be reliable, and encourage your students to enter only data they are confident about. You might wish to consider how you’ll respond if students report seeing birds you know are unlikely. For example, one field test teacher stated, “As a serious birder, I feel uneasy about submitting data that is inaccurate. I also don’t want to tell students “No, you couldn’t have seen that.” We’d like to offer these possible responses if you are concerned about a student’s identification of a species: • What makes you think it was that species? Do the field marks match? • Is that species found here at this time of year? • Is that species found in this habitat? • What other species could it have been? What makes you confident that it was that species? • Let’s not enter that bird this time, since we aren’t sure about it. But next time you see that kind of bird, point it out to the class so we can figure it out together! Note that improbable data might be “flagged,” and our regional editors might contact you to ask if your report could be a mistake. We encourage you and your students to enter data! So relax, enjoy birding, and continue to be the eyes and ears of Lab scientists!
 * Teacher Tips: Bird ID is Important**

This conversation was overheard when Senora Gomez’s class summarized their bird data for the first time: Senora Gomez: What birds did you see when we were outside? Jaime: I saw three Great Kiskadees. Senora Gomez: Yes, I actually counted two Great Kiskadees. Are you pretty sure you saw three different birds? Jaime: Yes. Two were flying together and later I saw another one perched in a tree in another area. I don’t think they were the same birds. Senora Gomez: Did anyone see more than three? Laura: Alejandro and I wrote down five on our list. I think we saw the two flying ones that Jaime saw, and we saw three that were perched in trees. I think they were all different birds too. Senora Gomez: We’ll write down five then. What other birds did you see? Alejandro: We also saw two sparrows. Senora Gomez: What kind of sparrows? Aren’t there several species of sparrows around here? Alejandro: I don’t know what kind they were, I just wrote down “sparrow” Senora Gomez: Did anyone who saw the sparrows look them up in a field guide or sketch them? Estudiantes: No. Senora Gomez: Well, we can’t count those sparrows since we need to know what species they are. Let’s look in our field guides. Next time we see sparrows, what should we look for? Estudiantes: The size… the markings on its head… the color of its wings. Senora Gomez: In this area, what are the common sparrows we might see? Esteban: The House Sparrow and the Rufous-collared Sparrow. It says both are common. But the House Sparrow has a black throat while the Rufous-coloured Sparrow has black stripes on its head. Senora Gomez: Next time we see sparrows, we should look for those field marks. Maybe we can figure it out during another count! Ricardo: Could we write down “sparrow” in the notes section, to remind us that we saw them? Senora Gomez: That’s a great idea! I’ll add “two unknown sparrows” to the notes section.
 * It Happened in Class**
 * Summarizing Bird Counts**