Not a sighting, eBird <ebird-review@ebird.org> email request for more documentation being misinterpreted.

[Clayton Will]

Not a sighting, eBird   <ebird-...@ebird.org> email request for more information by eBird reviewers being misinterpreted.

Twice in the last week I have had birders new to entering birds they had seen and entered into eBird express frustration that they were receiving emails from reviewers questioning the sighting. I explained that this is an automatically generated email based not only on the rarity of the bird but also by time of year for that species or number of birds seen. 

I told them it is not personal as the reviewer doesn't single them out and reviewers are all volunteers devoted to the compiling of accurate information. I explained that I get those notifications all the time. Also, I like to post photos for those birds or give a good description of the birds seen along with a reply to the reviewer that I corrected or deleted the observation. 

Hats off to our eBird reviewers. 

If anyone else has any input I'm missing please respond. 

Sincerely, 

Clayton Will

Madrid

 

[Aaron Brees]

I am one of several eBird reviewers for Iowa.  Clayton is correct that many of the request for detail emails that are sent are because the observer has not provided an adequate response to the eBird prompt asking for comments when submitting their checklist.  There are two distinct types of flags that can come up when submitting a checklist.  One is the "R" symbol.  This is for when a bird is rare for the location or rare for the date.  For this flag, the observer needs to describe the bird to support the identification. We often get comments like "Sitting in a tree" or "At my feeder" which are fine to include if you want to, but are not of much value in supporting an identification.  What is useful is supporting field marks and/or an explanation of why it wasn't a more common, similar species.  The second flag type is the "!" symbol.  This is the "high count" flag.  This is saying that the bird is not necessarily rare for the date/location, but that you are reporting a larger number than is expected for that date/location.  This flag is asking you to briefly explain how you arrived at the number.  Did you make an exact count of each bird? Did you take a wild guess at a large flock?  Did you count 10 and then use that block of 10 to estimate the rest of the flock?  This flag is generally not asking about the identification unless it is a species that has similar, more likely similar species. This flag catches data entry errors (ex. you intended 10 but typed 100) and gives others an idea of the accuracy of the count.  

The eBird app highlights any species that is flagged on your checklist and prompts you add comments before it will let you submit the checklist.  If you can't remember what exactly is being asked for, you can just tap the "R" or "!" symbol and an explanatory text box pops up.

Aaron Brees

Polk City, Iowa

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