Biol 4409/5409
Online lab assignment
This assignment is worth 50 points and replaces the second practical lab exam.
Please submit your completed assignment as a Microsoft Word file via Blackboard by midnight, Monday, May 1. You should all work independently and answer the questions in your own words. Do not cut and paste from online sources unless specifically instructed to do so.
This activity is meant to introduce you to eBird and related online resources.
1.eBird is a citizen science project. Review the Wikipedia entry on citizen science and write a short paragraph defining and describing what it is. Include a few examples of citizen science projects other than eBird.
2.Go to the eBird website, then click on the About link. Watch the āIntroduction to eBirdā video and review the text on the page. Write a short paragraph describing eBird.
3.Return to the eBird homepage, then click on the Science link. Review the text on the page and write a short paragraph summarizing how eBird data is used by scientists.
4.Return to the eBird homepage again.
a.Click on the Explore link. Pick a bird species native to southeast Texas and enter its name in the search bar under āExplore Speciesā. Scroll through the page. Which species did you pick? What types of data or media are available for the species?
b.Return to the Explore page, then click on the Species Maps link. Pick another bird species native to southeast Texas and enter its name in the search bar. Zoom in on the map until the colored range map displays individual localities represented by pins. Click on a pin for a particular locality to fetch data. Which species did you pick? What was the name of the locality you viewed? What was the date of the last observation of that species? How many individuals were recorded that day?
c.Return to the Explore page, then click on the Bar Charts link. Choose Texas under āSelect a Regionā, then click āCounties in Texasā under āThen Select a Subregionā. Click āContinueā at the bottom of the page. Select Jefferson County on the next page. Use the bar chart to identify and record
i.one permanent resident (a species present in Jefferson County throughout the year)
ii.one summer resident (a breeding species present in Jefferson County only during the summer, but not during the winter)
iii.one winter resident (a wintering species present in Jefferson County only during the winter, but not during the summer).
5.eBird is sponsored by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology maintains the All About Birds website, which includes species accounts for all North American birds, and the Birds of the World website, which includes species accounts for all of the living birds of the world. The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology also hosts the Macaulay Library, which holds one of the largest collections of recordings of bird vocalizations and other natural sounds. Finally, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology sponsors several citizen science programs, other than eBird, focused on birds, including: Celebrate Urban Birds, Great Backyard Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, and NestWatch, Pick one of these citizen science programs, review its website, and write a short paragraph describing it.
The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and All About Birds offer a free Merlin bird identification app that you can download to your smartphone and use to identify birds of North America.
