Wednesday, January 09, 2008

1 in 1,000,000

I have written about eBird on a few occasions on this blog (for example, here and here). EBird is a website, run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, that solicits sightings reports from birders across the Americas. Data from the submitted checklists is used by scientists at the CLO for population and distribution studies. The site's public software allows registered users to view their own submitted data, along with data submitted by other birders.

Since late summer, I have been contributing lists of my bird sightings to eBird. In December, one of my lists became the one millionth checklist submitted to eBird.

The one millionth checklist was one I submitted for a recent trip to Liberty State Park. Shortly after the submission, I received a notification from eBird that my name would be featured in a press release and that they would send me a pair of Zeiss binoculars as a gift to commemorate the occasion. The news came as a real surprise. I had no idea that eBird was planning a prize for the one millionth checklist, or that the one million-checklist milestone was even approaching.

The press release is now online.

Here is the millionth checklist.

Location:Liberty State Park
Observation date:12/15/07
Notes:30degF; 20mph wind
Number of species:34

Brant400
Canada Goose150
Mute Swan1
Gadwall100
American Wigeon3
American Black Duck30
Mallard6
Ring-necked Duck1
Greater Scaup170
Bufflehead10
Red-breasted Merganser3
Ruddy Duck60
Horned Grebe5
Double-crested Cormorant8
Great Blue Heron1
Black-crowned Night-Heron1
Northern Harrier1
Sharp-shinned Hawk1
Killdeer3
Ring-billed Gull180
Herring Gull40
Great Black-backed Gull3
Rock Pigeon100
Mourning Dove1
Downy Woodpecker1
Horned Lark3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet1
Northern Mockingbird3
European Starling40
American Tree Sparrow3
Song Sparrow2
Snow Bunting60
American Goldfinch4
House Sparrow20