3. Collecting Data

3. Collecting Data

3.1 Goals

Minimum coverage goals for the Atlas are shown in Figure 2. Adequate coverage of a square requires the following cumulatively over the 5 years of the project:

• at least 20 hours of effort in the peak breeding season (South: May 24 through July 10; North: June 1-July 10).

• recording a target number of species with breeding evidence.

• 25 point counts are required in most squares in Southern Ontario. See the Instructions for Point Counts for more details (Coming Soon).

In the road-accessible part of Northern Ontario (regions 34-42, see Figure 2), the goal is to obtain adequate coverage of five squares in every 100-km block; in the Far North (regions 43 and 44) the goal is to obtain adequate coverage of two squares per 100-km block. Throughout the north some priority squares have been identified. This is where effort should be concentrated whenever possible. See the Coverage Map to view the priority squares, and talk to the RC about where best to focus your atlassing effort. Although priority squares are indeed the priority, Atlas coverage from any square in the north is valuable.

Most squares can be adequately covered in 20 hours of well-planned effort by an experienced birder during the peak breeding season; inexperienced birders will require more time. Although the 20 hours is a useful guideline, ultimately, adequate coverage is best defined by the number of species reported in the square relative to what is expected to be breeding there. We will provide more on this as the project continues, but for now use the number of species reported in the square in Atlas-2 as an interim target: you can obtain that information by totalling the number of species reported in Atlas-2 on the Square Summary Sheet for the square at (click here). More details on species targets will be provided asap.

Once you have covered all habitat types and spent at least 20 hours in a square (and, if you are doing point counts, have done the 25 point counts where required) contact your RC and assess whether more coverage is required. If you would prefer to keep working in the same square, please do, but if the square is considered to be adequately covered, consider moving to a new square if there are any nearby that still have not met minimum coverage requirements. The additional effort will help to complete the list of species nesting in the square and give you a chance to upgrade breeding evidence for as many species as possible.

3.2 How to Atlas

Collection of the basic breeding evidence data for the Atlas is done via checklists. The Atlas Checklist follows a simple protocol where one checklist is filled out for each active birdwatching session that follows a single “observation type” within an Atlas square. On the app, there are three observation types to choose from: stationary, travelling count, or incidental, which are the same as eBird observation types. Stationary counts are used when you stay in the same spot or don’t move more than 50m; Traveling Counts, which is the most common list type for atlassing, are for when you do move more than 50m; Incidental lists are for reporting birds observed when you are not atlassing, as described above (see 1.3c above). Stationary and travelling counts are far more useful for research and conservation purposes than incidental lists, and shorter duration and shorter distance travelling counts are more useful than longer ones. It is quite feasible to do several checklists per day.

On the NatureCounts data entry web site and the printed data form, you have two additional observation types to choose from: “Area Search”, which involves restricting your list to a particular area, such as a woodlot, wetland or field, that you define by mapping the area on the data entry website; or simply entering data for the whole square without specifying location or track. This “whole square” option is expected to be used primarily for importing institutional data sets, and not used often by atlassers. Instructions for data entry on the website are provided here (click here).

Although you can start and end checklists wherever you like inside the same square, the ideal checklist covers a short distance (<5 km, the shorter the better) and is restricted to one habitat type. So a checklist (and associated track) in a coniferous forest and then one in a wetland is more valuable than a single checklist that combines the two. However, starting a new checklist every time you change habitats can be challenging, so try lists of various lengths and see what works best for you, but please remember that shorter and single habitat checklists are best.

Birds are tallied on a checklist, noting the highest level of breeding evidence observed. Do not assign birds that are clearly migrating through the square a breeding evidence code, simply leave the space blank. Try to upgrade breeding evidence for each species, attempting to find probable or confirmed breeding evidence for as many species as possible.

Species displayed in the app, website, or printed on the paper form checklists represent those most likely to be breeding in a given region. On the printed checklist data form, detections of species not found on the list get added in the open space provided and must be accompanied by a Rare/Colonial Species Form, see 3.4b below.

It’s especially enjoyable and valuable to try to fill in the list of species breeding in a square by being strategic and systematically seeking new birds to add to the square list. Once you have found most of the common species in the square, check the Square Summary sheet online (click here) and make note of any species that are underlined indicating they are likely to occur in the square but have not yet been encountered. Consider searching out those species in the habitat and at the time of year and time of day when they are most likely to be observed.

a) When to Atlas

Atlassing is carried out primarily during the main breeding season of late May to mid-August with a focus on the month of June. However, some species breed earlier in the year and some atlassing outside of the peak season is recommended to help familiarize yourself with the square and to look for these early breeding species. See the list of possible and safe dates in Appendix H to understand when each species may be breeding in your area. Atlassing can occur at any time of day, but note that many more birds tend to be active in the early morning than during the afternoon. We encourage dawn, dusk, and night visits to increase the likelihood of encountering species that are more active at these times.

The time that you put into off-peak atlassing (i.e. when the full complement of breeding species is not present) should be considered as additional to the target hours. Off-peak atlassing may involve early season or nocturnal atlassing, and may include targeted surveys such as the Owl, Nightjar and Marshbird Surveys.

b) Where to Atlas

The Square map provides a lot of information on the habitats in the square, showing woodlots, wetlands, urban areas, rivers, streams, ponds, hills and valleys, and lots more. Be sure to spend time searching all habitat types and be careful not to over-survey habitats that cover a small portion of the square. Provision your time to proportionally represent the habitat types (square maps will help with this); if 20% of the square is forest habitat, then 20% of time should be spent searching forest habitats.

Parks, Conservation Areas and other protected areas are often rich in birds and provide good opportunities to get away from roads. We are also hoping that atlas coverage will allow an assessment of how these areas are contributing to bird conservation in Ontario. So, please focus some efforts in these areas. When doing checklists (see section 3.4a below), keep entire checklists inside the area of the park, or outside of the area of the park, so we can compare lists from inside and outside of parks.

The Coverage Map will provide an up-to-date picture of which squares have been assigned to atlassers and which have not, and allow you to see how much coverage each square has obtained. Check the map frequently, and if you have the opportunity, focus your efforts on squares well below coverage goals. Speak with the appropriate Regional Coordinator and they will be able to direct you to squares in most need of coverage.

As much help as possible is needed in areas away from major urban centres, especially on the Canadian Shield and in the north. If you have a cottage or a favourite park, please consider atlassing in that area or even taking on a square. There will likely be squares in most regions that get no or little coverage. RCs will be organizing “square-bashing” events to help cover these squares in many regions. The Atlas office will be working with RCs in areas with few atlassers to organize larger-scale square bashes, inviting people from across the province to come for a few days and help out. More information will be provided via the website and the Atlas newsletter.

3.3 The Atlas (NatureCounts) app

The NatureCounts app can be used for collecting checklist and Point Count data. Appendix E provides more information on how to use the app in an instructional video. Data entered on the app goes directly to the Atlas database upon submission, which saves you from having to enter your data on-line at home. We’re hoping this will open up more of your time for atlassing! The app also allows you to automatically record a track for each checklist. It will also prompt you for more information on significant records and warn you when a breeding code is unusual or unexpected for a particular species. We recommend using the NatureCounts app as much as possible. The information on Atlas checklists below, under Data Forms (3.4a), also applies to checklists done on the app.

a) eBird and the Atlas

Data collected for the Atlas are compatible with eBird, and can be easily uploaded to your eBird account. On the Atlas website, once you are signed in, hover over your user name near the top right, then select profile (or click here to go directly to the profile page). At the bottom of the page is a section titled “eBird Exports”. Fill in your eBird account information here and be sure to save. Once you have filled in this information your Atlas checklists will automatically appear in your eBird account overnight. Click here (Coming Soon) for a video on how to enter your Atlas data to eBird.

Although it is feasible to use eBird to submit Atlas data, it requires some extra steps to fill in missing data which the Atlas requires. Using the NatureCounts app or website to collect and submit Atlas data is preferable, as this ensures that all the required data are collected in the standard fashion and that no additional steps are needed by you, the RC, or the Atlas office. For more information on how to forward your eBird data to the Atlas, see Appendix I, and a video (Coming Soon).

3.4 Data Forms

It is the atlasser’s responsibility to ensure that any data they collect is entered into the atlas. If you are not using the NatureCounts app, you can use either printed data forms or your notebook to record data. Data from notebooks or data forms must be entered to the Atlas database via the Atlas website data entry portal or the NatureCounts app: App Store or Play Store. If you are going to use your notebook to record atlas data, we recommend having a copy of the data form on-hand, as a reminder of all the relevant data that should be collected. The following forms are available to view or download from the Atlas website.

a) Atlas Checklist

See section 3.2 above for how to use checklists. Species displayed in the app, website, or printed on the paper form checklists represent those most likely to be breeding in a given region. Detections of species not found on the list get added in the open space provided and must be accompanied by a Rare/Colonial Species Form, see b) below.

If you plan to use paper forms to record your checklists, you will need several copies of the form; these can be downloaded from the website and printed at home. See Appendix J for a detailed description of how to complete the Checklist form. Be sure to fill in all the required information at the top of the checklist. Duration is calculated as the number of minutes that a party spent actively birding in the square (a party is either an individual or a group of individuals who are working together). Do not report time spent in the square that is spent on activities other than atlassing, even though you may happen to note a few bird species at the same time. Such records should be listed as Incidental.

b) Rare/Colonial Species and Flagged records

Sightings of rare species and breeding colonies require extra documentation (see Appendix K for examples). These species are identified on Square Summary Sheets and Atlas Checklists, and on the NatureCounts app. Please fill in as many details as possible, including how you identified the species, behaviour observed, and any other details that you think might be important to have documented, and report the location of the observation as precisely as possible. When entering data online you will be prompted to identify a location on a map or enter coordinates. However, you should still attempt to record your location while in the field, either by using your Square Map to determine the UTM coordinates, a GPS device, or a navigation phone app. Species with the following designations require documentation:

† Provincially Rare: documentation required for ALL breeding records.

‡ Regionally Rare: documentation required for ALL breeding records.

§ Species of Interest: documentation required for CONFIRMED breeding records only, includes colonial species and widespread Species At Risk.

Contact your RC right away if you find breeding evidence for a rare species – it may be important to verify details or initiate conservation measures for rare species so time is of the essence. Any sensitive information, such as the precise locations of Species At Risk, should be kept strictly confidential by the atlasser and their RC. See Appendix L for more information about sensitive species and the Birding Code of Ethics.

During data entry to the app or website, records might be flagged for other reasons beyond those listed above. For instance, the species might be listed as rare based on the date, or the number recorded might be a high count. Records may also be flagged for additional details based on the breeding code used.

c) Point Count Forms

For point count forms and information on how to run point counts, go to the Instructions for Point Counts (Coming Soon).

3.5 Location information

Always know where you are! The NatureCounts app has a map built in that pin-points your location as you move around the square. Additionally, a map of each 10-km square is available on the website at: click here. The square map contains much of the topographic information needed to plan your Atlas survey work. Studying maps of the area you plan to survey ahead of time will economize your efforts. In the field, square maps can be marked up to keep track of where you’ve atlassed to avoid duplicating your effort, and significant species locations can be marked. The data entry portal on the website will allow you to indicate where you atlassed using the Google Maps interface.

Please do your best to determine your precise location in the field when recording specific locations of rare or colonial species. You can determine Lat/Long coordinates precise to 1 m using a GPS-enabled device. You can provide UTM coordinates precise to 100m using your Square Map. See Appendix M for more information about how to report your location.

3.6 Project NestWatch (Optional)

Information about nests of birds is useful for studies of breeding success, nesting biology, and breeding distribution. If you find a nest, we encourage you to contribute to Project NestWatch. See project website for details. To avoid jeopardizing nesting success, all observers must approach nests with care and caution. By following the Project NestWatch code of conduct (click here), you will reduce the risk of attracting predators to a nest; causing unintentional harm to a nest; or causing adults to desert a nest.