Contact a Coordinator in your area
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:
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 North America. It is desirable to get as much of each county surveyed as resources permit.
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 North America on the third Saturday of September and the second Saturday of May each year. The near-term counts are September 15, 2007, May 10, 2008, and September 20, 2008.
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, 497 Stone House Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32301-3357; 850-575-6610; bob@rkhenderson.com. Direct all questions, concerns, and suggestions to him.
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 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 from the FOS web site; a copy is enclosed for reference.
RESULTS OF NAMC: Florida NAMC data will be posted to the FOS web side with current and prior years’ data being presented. This will be accomplished this year through the hard work of Steve Bankert, Web Master for FOS.