Tag Archives: quest

Quest for 300 Gets Tougher

York County Audubon Posted on by

Last time I wrote that in 2010, birders using eBird had reported seeing 298 species in York County. Since then, I’ve discovered a quirk in that data: In eBird, “species” is more than species. The tally is not as close to 300 as I thought! Most birders have spotted birds that they couldn’t nail down to species, but many still make note of them. Rare is the field notebook without any “accipiter sp.” or “empidonax sp.” to account for those hawks or flycatchers that just didn’t reveal enough for a positive identification. Those entries and many similar ones are still … Continue reading →

Quest for 300

York County Audubon Posted on by

How many bird species can be seen in York County in a single year? A dedicated birder can tally 200 or more with reasonable effort, but what if a bunch of birders ranging from casual watchers to serious listers contributed to a single collective list? They have, on eBird, and the 2010 total was 298. [Edit: Not so fast! See my followup on what eBird counts as “species.”] eBird.org is a real-time online checklist program launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society. It makes vast numbers of bird observations accessible and usable. We’re watching … Continue reading →