Frequently Asked Questions – Coimbatore city Bird Atlas
Q: Why is atlas protocol so important to follow?
A: If this large effort of several of volunteers has to be meaningful to science, we need some set high standards and follow it. Otherwise, twenty years from now, our next generation would not trust the results we obtained.
Q: Can I use atlas survey time for imparting education to co-birders?
A: No. You can educate your co-birders before or after each listing. While doing a 15 minutes list, you should give your 100% as the lead observer(s) and let the co-birders point out extra birds which you can identify for them. Further details like showing it in the field guide, explaining the differences with other birds, discussing its habits should be done after a listing bout of 15 minutes is over.
Q: For the first 15 minutes, I got 10 species. For the next list, I got 7 species which I already got in the previous list. Should I include them again?
A: Yes. You should include them. You are expected to do a traveling list and hence the number of double counts (individual birds being counted twice) are going to be less. However, even if you know it is the very same bird, you should include the same species in the next list also.
Q: If the number of birds in a list is low, should we redo the sub-cell?
A: It depends. You should discuss this with the coordinator. If the survey has been affected by extraneous conditions like rain, fog, time of the day, tide, traffic, crowd, festival or any other intrinsic conditions or a disturbance that made the lead observer not 100% occupied (e.g. Phone calls, discussion with locals, explaining questions from co-birders, photographing an unusual species, counting a heronry etc) that took a significant amount of time of the list (> 3 minutes), then you should redo it. Otherwise, there is no need to redo the list as it is a random sample which was genuinely low. If the disturbance is momentary, you are allowed to ‘pause’ the listing and restart when the disturbance is over.
Q: If the number of birds in the sub-cell is low, can we move to an nearby sub-cell where bird activity is better?
A: No. You should stick to the sub-cell but try to cover the sub-cell as best as you can with four 15 minute lists, covering all habitats at the ‘right’ time. The right time is decided by a number of factors and the answer to the previous question details what could go wrong.
Q: I saw some species while travelling inside the sub-cell while I was not doing the atlas listing. Can I add those species to one of the atlas lists ?A: No. You should only include species seen during the respective 15 minutes. All other species seen can be entered as a fifth list which is either incidental or traveling list with All Species Reported as No.
Coimbatore City Bird Atlas 