Report Your Sightings

Wait, I Use

Data is only data until someone uses it to tell a story - the role of the seasonal editors. At this point your eBird checklists are no different from someone else's AviSys database or Excel spreadsheet or even small notebooks full of hundreds and thousands of records. The published story is a partnership between Iowa birders who report their significant sightings and the editors who must then organize those sightings into something meaningful to print. The IOU field reporting system is NOT a competitor to eBird but is simply an electronic repository for meaningful sightings from your personal perspective. Sure beats the old notecard system! See how one eBird user contributes to both.

I started entering my field reports in eBird about one year ago. It's been a lot of fun since I can enter data in real time on my smartphone and it gives me an excuse to list on a regular basis. It's good at organizing my data and checklists and in the process I've found that it's made it easier for me to periodically review my data and report the most significant sightings to the seaonal field reports on the IOU website. I go to the "Manage My Checklists" prompt under the "My eBird" tab, where it shows my checklists in reverse chronological order. I'll then open up a new tab where I'll log into the IOU site to enter my field reports so the information is right there. I can simply open up each list and pick out what I feel are the most significant entries, such as any rarities, high counts, early and late arrivals/departures, and my personal first of season sightings. I find that if I do this every couple of weeks, my data entry is manageable and takes very little time. I've actually been entering more data to IOU in the past year since I've started using eBird. -- Mark Brown

Report Your Sightings

and contribute to Iowa's history

What are Seasonal Field Reports and Why Do We Care?

Ross' Goose Range Map Think about those useful range maps in your favorite field guide. How are they made with any semblance of accuracy? Who keeps track of this stuff and makes new maps as needed? Information from people like all of us have provided an incredible view of bird populations and movements for many years.

Spring - Mar-May (Due 15 Jun)
Summer - Jun-Jul (Due 15 Aug)
Fall - Aug-Nov (Due 15 Dec)
Winter - Dec-Feb (Due 15 Mar)

Recording changes in bird populations has a long history. One of the first citizen-science projects was the Christmas Bird Count which culminated in a picture painted of changes to specific areas at a specific time of year. Since the 1940s seasonal observations have been synthesized into a journal (now called North American Birds) giving a continental view of our birds. States and provinces have historically published field notes or reports of interesting observations in their journal, compiled by volunteers in their state/provincial organization. These self-reported sightings are then combined with those of neighboring areas to create regional reports for the bigger publication. The big picture starts at home and Iowa will only be well represented when Iowans participate.

Birders enter sightings ⇒ Seasonal Field Reports Editors synthesize data (including weather impacts) into a summary for Iowa Bird Life ⇒ Regional report (multi-state) is written and submitted to North American Birds ⇒ Journals are archived and digitized for researchers

Enter Your Sightings Document a Rare Bird