The
North American Migration Count in Florida is sponsored by Florida Ornithological
Society, and is supported by local Audubon Societies, local bird clubs, and
other interested organizations.
PURPOSE: The mission of the North American Migration
Count (NAMC) is to:
v
Obtain a “snapshot” of the progress and “shape” of spring and fall
Migration.
v
Obtain information on the abundance & distribution of each species.
v
Initiate more participation among birders within a state and between
states.
v
Create challenges and goals among birders while collecting useful
information.
v
Aid in organization and centralization of date.
v
HAVE FUN.
AREA OF COUNT: The area of a count is not a circle, but the
boundaries of a County. The idea is to
have a contiguous interlocking set of non-overlapping counts across
TIMING OF THE
COUNT: Each spring and fall another picture will be
acquired of the migration pattern. From
these we may discover the shape of migration particular to each species. The date of NAMC has been chosen to capture
as many migrants as possible before they reach the final destination. It will not be peak migration everywhere. The Southern areas will have the lingerers
and the northern areas will still await many of the breeding species when the
spring count takes place.
COUNT DATES: The NAMC takes place across
COORDINATION: Each state has a state coordinator who is
responsible for working with county coordinators, providing tally sheets and
instructions, and giving assistance as needed.
When the counts have been completed, the state coordinator combines the
county counts into a statewide count.
The data will be displayed on the FOS web site.
County Coordinators
recruit participants, frequently
through the local Audubon chapter or other bird clubs, assign teams to areas
within the county, provide tally sheets to the teams, and collect the count
information after the count has been completed.
The county coordinators compile the results from all of the teams into a
single count for the county and submit the results to the state coordinator.
STATE
COORDINATOR: The Florida State Coordinator is Bob
Henderson,
LOGISTICS OF
THE COUNT: The County coordinator should segment the
county and assign teams in such as way that there is no overlap between the
sectors and the sectors should cover as much of the county as resources
permit. Some teams will begin before
dawn and will finish at dusk. Other
teams will not contribute as much time to the count. The county coordinator needs to adjust the
size of a sector to meet the contribution of each team.
There may be teams that spend part of the count day
on a feeder watch and others that may count from a stationary point. The only precautionary remark is to insure
that these teams and roving teams do not double count; and count tallies for feeder watch/stationary counts should be reported
along with the day counts. Before
dawn counts should be submitted separately.
Teams can be of any size; so county coordinators can
subdivide their people power to maximize the area covered by the count. It is beneficial to have at least one
experienced birder in each team. Team
members should stay together and not casually form two teams while in the
field. County coordinators will find
that it is beneficial to assign team members to the same sector in subsequent
counts to maintain consistency in the approach to the count.
Over time, count routes should be done
consistently. It may be beneficial to
keep a log of count routes so consistency is maintained. This is particularly important if new teams
need to be assigned to a sector in future counts.
TALLY SHEETS: The state coordinator will provide to county
coordinators tally sheets that can be copied and given to each of the
teams. At the end of the count day, one
tally sheet should be completed for the county combining the counts from each
of the teams. An electronic file is sent
to those using email so an electronic file can be completed and sent to the
State coordinator. Electronic filing
reduces errors in the overall count.
The tally sheet also includes information about weather
conditions, hours and miles spent in various modes of transportation, and other
identification data.
The count totals for each county should be sent
electronically to the state coordinator if at all possible.
UNUSUAL BIRD
REPORTS: It is important to document, in detail,
unusual birds that are seen during the count. Unusual birds are those that are
not normally found in the count area, i.e. vagrants, eruptive species, feral
birds, et cetera. The state coordinator
will provide reporting sheets to assist in capturing data observed concerning
unusual sightings. You are encouraged to
use the PDF file on the FOS web site http://www.fosbirds.org/
as an alternative to sending the reporting sheet to the state coordinator.
RESULTS OF
NAMC: