DENIS LEPAGE BIRD STUDIES CANADA

eBird as a successful example of citizen science

Ecological questions §  Where does the species occur spatially? §  Where is it most abundant?

§  Has its distribution changed over time? §  How does the distribution relates to other ecological

factors?

Data for conservation

§  Without proper data, we can’t answer those questions

§  Lack of data for a vast majority of species

Data for conservation

Citizen science

Bird Studies Canada programs: §  dozens of monitoring programs §  20,000 volunteer bird-watchers §  nearly a million observation records each year §  potentially millions of contributors

Citizen science

Understanding the motivations of participants: §  Easy §  Rewarding

§  data for greater good of science §  personalized rewards §  social aspect §  etc.

Citizen science

http://ebird.ca

Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata

Eurasian Collared-Dove | Range Expansion

�  17% of all checklists submitted to eBird are flagged by the automated filters. �  These flagged records are then reviewed by regional experts in bird

distribution.

A dog bird A Catbird

Data quality

Data standards

Work with partners to agree on data sharing standards

• AKN’s Bird Monitoring Data Exchange (BMDE) •  Over 100 million records on birds

Facilitate access to data •  Data nodes •  Download portal •  Web services

www.naturecounts.ca

Common Tern

Thank you!!