Dear New York Birders, Thanks to all who have expressed interest in participating in the 2014 Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz. And a big thanks to all of the Audubon Chapters and bird clubs that are spreading the word about this important effort. We are about a month and a half away from the blitz and wanted to take this opportunity to share some updated information on the data entry protocol.
Please see the following link, which outlines the way in which the data should be submitted into eBird during the blitz window: http://rustyblackbird.org/outreach/migration-blitz/collecting-and-reporting-data/ You will notice that there is an optional, supplemental data entry form that folks might find helpful while searching for rusties in the field. This form is not a substitute for data entry and all information must still be submitted through eBird. The 2014 Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz window for New York State begins on March 1st and ends on April 30th. This is a tremendously important effort in aiding our understanding of the decline in the Rusty Blackbird population. Please help us try and put together the pieces of this puzzle. For those who may have missed the original project introduction that I sent on 12/27/13, please see my post below. I'll be coordinating the Blitz for the Long Island/NYC area and Mike Shanley will be coorindating Staten Island efforts. As always, please feel free to email us with any questions and let us know if you can particpate! Best, Derek Rogers (drogers0...@gmail.com) Mike Shanley (falec...@yahoo.com) ***For upstate New York particpation and questions please contact Melanie McCormack at mruddyd...@aol.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Derek Rogers <drogers0...@gmail.com> Date: Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 5:26 PM Subject: Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz To: NY Bird List List <nysbirds-l@cornell.edu> Dear New York Birders, The International Rusty Blackbird Working Group (IRBWG), in partnership with eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, is coordinating a Spring Migration Blitz in 2014 for Rusty Blackbirds. You may recall the recent Rusty Blackbird Winter Blitz, which was aimed at challenging birders to go out and search for Rusty Blackbirds on their wintering grounds. The Spring Migration Blitz holds the same concept but is aimed at gathering information on preferred migration stopover sites used by Rusties. Migration stopovers are still poorly understood and we are seeking your help in an effort to put together some pieces of this puzzle. In the end, we hope to answer questions such as; Are stopover areas on protected lands, and if so, does the availability of these lands limit their survival? Are there favored stopover locations that groups of Rusties use each year? These are just a couple of example questions that the IRBWG is attempting to answer and for this reason, the Blitz will run annually through Spring 2016. We know one thing, and its that the population of the Rusty Blackbird has declined by an estimated 85-99% in the past 40 years. The target Blitz dates for New York are March and April. All of the data and information will be collected via eBird where there will be an available drop down option to select RUBL Blitz Survey. To learn more about the Blitz objectives, target dates and identification challenges (ID pages should be available by January), please see the web pages launched by the IRBWG: http://rustyblackbird.org The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds website is an additional, excellent source of information: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rusty_Blackbird/id While we still have a few months before the action begins, I thought it was appropriate to introduce the project and to encourage birders to start thinking about the Blitz. I will be coordinating the Blitz for the Long Island/NYC area and Mike Shanley has agreed to coordinate for the Staten Island area. The upstate region will be coordinated by Melanie McCormack. We are available to help answer any questions pertaining to the project, how to effectively submit observations in eBird, etc. Keep up to speed on current happenings with the Spring Blitz on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rustyblackbirdspringblitz I'll be sending out posts with additional information as the Blitz drawers nearer. In the meantime, I hope everyone considers the challenge of the Blitz and participates in this meaningful citizen science effort. Best, Derek Rogers (drogers0...@gmail.com) NYC/LI Blitz Coordinator Mike Shanley (falec...@yahoo.com) Staten Island Coordinator Melanie McCormack (mruddyd...@aol.com) Upstate New York -- Derek Rogers Sayville http://dereksnest.blogspot.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
