13 December 2007
Dear CBC Compiler,
Another year of CBCs is upon us. If you’re new to compiling, then a bit of introduction is in order. I’m the editor of Florida’s CBCs and this letter explains my editing procedures. I am always available via email <billpranty@hotmail.com> to answer any questions or concerns that you have. Please share this letter your participants, especially your party leaders. This letter is posted to the Florida Ornithological Society’s webpage <http://www.fosbirds.org/events/cbcfos%202007-2008.htm>.
If you no longer are compiling your CBC, please forward this to the new compiler, and please email the compiler’s contact information to me so that I can update my records. Please note that this is a very long letter, but one that I hope you will read and find useful. The primary audience of this letter is new compilers.
You should have received emails from Audubon alerting you that the CBC compiler’s kit is now available solely online at <http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/compiler.html>. As you probably know, Audubon requires that conclusive details be provided for all species that are rare during winter in your CBC circle. The documentation form provided by Audubon <http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/pdf/rarebird.pdf> is single-sided and there is no room for participants to write down a description of their sighting. Observers are expected to write details on the back of the sheet, but the lack of clear descriptive sections on the form prevents many participants from providing thorough and proper details. I call your attention to the attached PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file. This is the form that I request that you and your participants use for documenting rarities on your CBC. This form is extremely detailed and may request information that does not seem particularly relevant to your sightings, or to your participants’ sightings. In these cases, fill out as much of the form as is possible. Please send all documentation forms directly to me (address below) and not to Audubon’s Pennsylvania address. Note: a Word version of this form is also posted to the FOS website mentioned above.
Numbers of parties – This number confuses many compilers. If your CBC had parties that spent less time in the field than did other parties (which is the case for most CBCs), then please list a range that represents the minimum and maximum numbers of parties in the field during daylight hours. For instance, if 2 parties begin at 6:30AM and are followed by 7 other parties that begin at 8AM, and only 3 parties continue birding until 6PM, then you should list 2–10 parties in the field.
Party-Hours – These are determined to allow for standardized comparison among all CBCs and years. Party-hours should not exceed 11 hours per party, since “owling” hours are tabulated separately. If your CBC had 7 parties, then you cannot list more than 77 party-hours – and that figure presumes that every party began at 6:30AM, took a half-hour lunch break, then continued birding until 6PM. Also, please do not tabulate “observer hours” as party-hours; if you have 10 people in 3 parties and each party is out for 10 hours, then you have 30 party-hours, not 100. Please calculate your party-hours carefully. Every year, the party-hours reported for several Florida CBCs clearly are erroneous.
Species groups – I do not accept the use of extremely vague listings such “duck species,” “hawk species,” “warbler species,” or “sparrow species, but “scaup species,” “Accipiter species,” “dowitcher species,” “hummingbird species,” “crow species.”
“Countable” species – as you enter your data online, you are asked to fill in a box for the Number of Species seen on your count. This number should represent only whole species, and only those species currently on the official Florida bird list maintained by the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee>. Feel free to leave the Total Species box blank*—I will fill it in after my editing is complete. Every year, several Florida compilers submit an incorrect species total for their count.
Please do not “count” any of the following species in your Species Totals—but please do include these species in your results: Trumpeter Swan, Mute Swan, Black Swan, Egyptian Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Great White Heron, Scarlet Ibis, Whooping Crane, Common Peafowl, “Ringed Turtle-Dove,” Budgerigar (except in Hernando and Pasco counties), Cockatiel, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Black-hooded Parakeet (except in Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties), Monk Parakeet (except in Broward, Charlotte, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties), Blue-crowned Parakeet, Green Parakeet, Mitred Parakeet, Red-masked Parakeet, White-eyed Parakeet, Dusky-headed Parakeet, Chestnut-fronted Macaw, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, White-winged Parakeet (except in Miami-Dade and Broward counties), Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, White-fronted Parrot, Red-crowned Parrot, Blue-fronted Parrot, Yellow-headed Parrot, Orange-winged Parrot, all other psittacids (i.e., cockatoos, parakeets, macaws, or parrots), Common Myna, Hill Myna, any bishop, any munia/mannikin, and any local escapee.
Unusual numbers – Please limit your use of “unusual numbers” to those totals that represent new high counts for a species on your CBC. (If your CBC has been run fewer than 10 times, please try to limit “unusual numbers” to those high counts that seem truly significant).
Rounding off numbers – Because the totals for most species seen on a CBC are based somewhat or entirely on estimates rather than precise counts, the totals that you submit should be rounded off the nearest 5, 10, 100, or 1000. For instance, if parties on your CBC report Tree Swallow totals of 3000, 1000, 500, 250, 100, 20, 6, 2, and 1, then please round off this total to 5000, rather than listing precisely “4879" Tree Swallows. Totals based on precise counts should never be rounded, of course, but most CBC totals include estimates and therefore should be rounded off.
PARTICULAR SPECIES WORTHY OF COMMENTS
In each of the previous six CBC seasons, I have had to delete a few dozen or more observations annually because documentation was either not provided or was insufficient for conclusive identification. Many others species are annually appended with the dreaded “Details Desired” comment. This does not have to be the case—I should not have to delete 40 or 50 CBC reports each year and question a similar number! The deletion of undocumented or insufficiently documented rarities can be eliminated if participants provide clear and concise written details for all rarities, written as quickly as possible after the sighting, and ideally before field guides and other references are consulted. (Obviously, there is no substitute for photographs or videotapes; I especially appreciate receiving digital or scanned JPEGs via email—but please crop the photos and reduce their file size before sending them to me). If participants do not provide sufficient details for rarities, then it is your responsibility as compiler to request additional details or to delete the report.
For those of you who are new to compiling, most species seen on less than 25% of your CBC should be documented. For instance, if your CBC has been run for the past 20 years, all species that have been seen on 5 or fewer counts should be documented. Secretive or nocturnal species such as bitterns, rails, and owls may be overlooked frequently on your CBC, and may not necessarily need to be documented when they are encountered. The next several pages of text provide comments about those species that have caused problems on one or more recent Florida CBC circles. If you have any questions about whether a species seen on your CBC requires documentation, send me an email shortly after your CBC date and I’ll be happy to provide an answer. All species that are marked on your CBC as unusual must be documented.
Great White Heron – Please provide details for all reports away from the Keys or Everglades.
Scarlet Ibis – Please provide details throughout Florida, including reports of “pink,” “scarlet-type,” or other ibises that may be Scarlet × White Ibis hybrids.
Canada Goose – Please ensure that all Canada Geese are listed as “Canada Goose (large forms).” All Canada Geese now are “countable” throughout Florida, even those known or strongly suspected of representing feral individuals.
Muscovy Duck – This species is fully “countable” throughout Florida, and I do not need details for any report.
Mallard – All individuals are “countable” throughout Florida, even extremely inbred feral birds.
Mallard × Mottled Duck – hybrids between these two species occur in Florida, and may be increasing. But few reports have been documented, especially on CBCs. I would appreciate it if compilers alert their participants to the possibility that Mallard × Mottled Duck hybrids may be present within your CBC, and to submit details for any hybrids observed.
American Black Duck – Please provide details south of Gainesville; this species is very rare in the central peninsula.
Green-winged Teal – please ensure that all Green-winged Teals are listed as “American Green-winged Teal,” unless photographs have been obtained for the Eurasian subspecies.
Common Merganser – Please provide details throughout Florida.
Broad-winged Hawk – Please provide details throughout Florida except at St. Petersburg or in Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties.
Short-tailed Hawk – Please provide details throughout Florida, except in Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties.
Semipalmated Sandpiper – Please provide details (and ideally photographs) throughout Florida.
Coastal shorebirds (e.g., Dunlin, Willet) – Please provide details for all inland observations.
Solitary Sandpiper – Please provide details for reports of more than two on any CBC.
Dowitchers – Please provide details for all inland Short-billed Dowitchers, and please do not submit reports of coastal Long-billed Dowitchers.
Common Tern – Please provide details throughout Florida.
Least Tern – Please provide details (preferably photographs) throughout Florida.
African Collared-Dove (“Ringed Turtle-Dove”) – Please provide details throughout Florida.
Common Nighthawk or nighthawk species– Please provide details throughout Florida.
Lesser Nighthawk – Please provide details throughout Florida, except in and around Everglades National Park.
Chuck-will’s-widow – Please provide details north of Lake Okeechobee.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird – Please use “Archilochus species” for all “Ruby-throated-type” hummingbirds found north of Lake Okeechobee, unless details are provided to distinguish from the Black-chinned Hummingbird.
Rare hummingbirds such as Allen’s, Anna’s, Broad-tailed, Broad-billed, or Calliope – Please provide details throughout Florida. Mentioning simply that the bird was banded by Fred Bassett or Bob Sargent is not sufficient; I need details to confirm the identification.
Buff-bellied Hummingbird – Please provide details outside the Panhandle.
Rufous Hummingbird – Please provide details for any female or immature, or use Selasphorus species.
Hairy Woodpecker – I prefer details for this species away from areas with expanses of fire-maintained pine flatwoods, or other areas known to contain resident populations.
Northern Flicker – please list all flickers as “Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker.”
Eastern Wood-Pewee – I will not accept any report unless accompanied by videotape documentation that includes call-notes!
Least Flycatcher – Please provide details throughout Florida, except around Lake Apopka and in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties.
Any other Empidonax flycatcher: Please provide details (preferably accompanied by photographs) throughout Florida.
Great Crested Flycatcher – Please provide details northward from Brevard, Hillsborough, Osceola, Pinellas, and Polk counties.
Ash-throated Flycatcher – Please provide details throughout Florida, except around Lake Apopka.
Brown-crested Flycatcher – Please provide details throughout Florida, except in and around Everglades National Park.
Eastern Kingbird – Please provide details (preferably accompanied by photographs) throughout Florida.
Purple Martin – Please provide details throughout Florida.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow – Please provide details north of Lake Okeechobee.
Barn Swallow – Please provide details throughout Florida.
Yellow-throated Vireo – Please provide details throughout Florida except in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties.
Swainson’s Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, or Veery – Please provide details (preferably accompanied by photographs) throughout Florida.
Blue-winged Warbler or Nashville Warbler – Please provide details throughout Florida.
Yellow Warbler – Please provide details throughout Florida, except in coastal Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
American Redstart – I prefer details for any count north of Lake Okeechobee.
Yellow-rumped Warbler – please ensure that all Yellow-rumped Warblers are listed as “Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers.”
Black-throated Blue Warbler or Magnolia Warbler – Please provide details throughout Florida, except in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties.
Louisiana Waterthrush – For now, please provide details throughout Florida.
Wilson’s Warbler – Please provide details throughout Florida, except at Gainesville and in Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties.
Yellow-breasted Chat – Please continue to provide details throughout Florida.
Summer Tanager – Please provide details for reports of more than two on any count.
Blue Grosbeak – Please continue to provide details throughout Florida.
Indigo Bunting – Please carefully monitor reports of this species, especially for more than five individuals (I acknowledge that larger numbers are regular in the southern peninsula and the Keys). Please note that Indigo Buntings in winter are never all blue.
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow – I prefer details from along the Gulf coast.
Song Sparrow – Please note that reports of more than a few individuals from the central peninsula southward are likely erroneous.
Rusty Blackbird – Please provide details south of Gainesville.
Brewer’s Blackbird – Please provide details from Gainesville southward.
Thank you, and have a safe and enjoyable CBC season.
Bill Pranty
Florida CBC Editor
8515 Village Mill Row
Bayonet Point, Florida 34667
billpranty@hotmail.com