Welcome to the Atlas Toolbox where you will find templates, guidance, tools, and contacts to help you conduct a Bird Atlas!
Communication Tools
| Tool | Purpose | Project | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discord | communicate with Atlas team members and volunteers | ON | https://www.birdsontario.org/discussion/ |
| Mailchimp | Newsletters | NY, MD-DC, NC, WI | |
| Facebook, Instagram | regular posts in offseason to keep people engaged; announcements like offering of webinar series | NF | |
| Slack | communicate with Atlas team members and volunteers | NY | |
| GovDelivery | motivate, inform, engage, direct, newsletters | ME | |
| Blockbusting Comms Groups | Via FB, email & text chain, etc. cultivated specific comms & targets for my diehards | VA | |
| Zoom | weekly volunteer Q&A sessions during survey seasons | ME | https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/maine-bird-atlas/get-involved/trainings.html |
| Newsletter | pdfs | SK | https://sk.birdatlas.ca/newsletters/ |
| Resources | Colonial Waterbird Guidance | ME | https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/maine-bird-atlas/docs/2019%20Colonial%20Waterbirds%20Guidance.pdf |
| Resources | Crepuscular and Nocturnal Guidance | ME | https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/maine-bird-atlas/docs/2019%20Crepuscular%20and%20Nocturnal%20Guidance.pdf |
| Resources | Resources and materials | ME | https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/maine-bird-atlas/resources-materials.html |
| Newsletter | mailchimp archives | NY | https://ebird.org/atlasny/about/media |
| News | updates, news | WI | https://ebird.org/atlaswi/news/ |
| Newsletter | pdfs | MD-DC | https://ebird.org/atlasmddc/about/newsletters |
| Resources | Atlasing tips | ON | https://www.birdsontario.org/articles/ |
| Resources | Searchable blog with species tips | CT | http://ctbirdatlas.org/blog/ |
| News | Updates, tips, news | VA | https://ebird.org/atlasva/news/ |
| Newsletter | pdfs | NF | https://nf.birdatlas.ca/newsletter/ |
| Resources | Species-at-risk tips | NF | https://nf.birdatlas.ca/atlassing-for-species-at-risk/ |
| Newsletter | web | ON | https://www.birdsontario.org/newsletters/ |
| News | Updates, tips, news | VA | https://amjv.org/vabba/news-and-resources/ |
| Resources | Species profiles (duplicated from newsletter pdfs) | MD-DC | https://ebird.org/atlasmddc/news?tag=species-profile&i=1 |
| Resources | Atlasing tips (duplicated from newsletter pdfs) | MD-DC | https://ebird.org/atlasmddc/news?tag=atlas-tips-and-tricks&i=4 |
Volunteer Motivation
| Tool | Purpose | Project | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Big January” competition | Award prizes for atlasing in remote areas | CT | http://ctbirdatlas.org/blog/index.php/2020/12/31/coas-big-january-prizes-galore/ |
| Gamefication | challenges and prizes, Big Atlas Weekend | WI, NY, ON | |
| Gas cards | Pay for people to blockbust in final year | OH | |
| Travel grants | Pay for people to blockbust in final 2 years | ME | |
| Volunteer appreciation parties | start of a project or to celebrate end of project | ME | |
| Kickoff meeting | Had a statewide meeting at start of years 1,2,5 to get people excited and trained | WI | |
| Volunteer “home range” maps | Motivate and reward atlasers | SK | |
| Summer Data Blitzes | Organized weekend-long volunteer rallies, based out of state parks | VA, WI | |
| Old School In-Person Talks/Workshops | Large field & data entry training sessions – organized through BCs, MN chapters, Audubon groups, etc. | VA, WI | |
| Volunteer Profile Feature Stories | Published via eBird/newsletter/list-servs monthly and bi-monthly | VA, WI | |
| Zoom | Annual season kickoffs (presentations, priorities, challenges) | ME |
Fundraising
| Tool | Purpose | Project | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsor-a-species program | fundraising | WI, NY, ME, VA | |
| SWAG | prizes, advertising, fundraising | ME | https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/3380076-maine-bird-atlas-logo |
| Part-time fundraiser person | Hired a fundraiser to reach out to organizations/write grants | WI | |
| Bonfire | On demand merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, sweatshirts, etc.) | NC |
Training
| Tool | Purpose | Project | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airtable | App to show breeding dates | MD-DC | https://www.airtable.com |
| Bird ID talks | Training birders | SK, NF | |
| Kickoff meeting | Had a statewide meeting at start of years 1,2,5 to get people excited and trained | Nick | |
| Bird ID talks | Training birders | SK | https://sk.birdatlas.ca/tutorials-and-bird-id-videos/ |
| Atlas tips | Atlas tips over zoom meetings | NY | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs2QvwHQ9h2lzv97vizN5Eg |
| Bird ID talks | Training birders | NF | https://nf.birdatlas.ca/tutorials-and-bird-id-videos/ |
Data Tools
| Tool | Software | Host location | Purpose | Project | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub | GitHub | share and store computer code | WI, MD-DC, NC, NY | https://github.com/nmanich; https://github.com/ngwalton/wbba_tools; https://github.com/nmtarr/NCBA; https://github.com/breeding-bird-atlases | |
| WildTrax | Analyze digital point counts | SK, ON | https://www.wildtrax.ca/home | ||
| Blockbusting parties | organized trips to remote blocks | WI, VA, NY, MD-DC | |||
| square bash | organized day/weekend to complete a square | NF | |||
| eBird | eBird | collect core atlasing data | eBird | ||
| iNaturalist | iNaturalist | coordinator combs through records and pulls out confirmed breeding photos to fill in some gaps | NF | ||
| NatureCounts | NatureCounts | collect core atlasing data & point counts | Birds Canada | https://naturecounts.ca/nc/onatlas/main.jsp | |
| Organized trips | collect data in remote areas | ON, NF | |||
| Survey123 | Survey123 | collect point count info | NC | ||
| Zoom H2N | Digital point counts | SK, ON, NF | https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recorders/h2n-handy-recorder/ | ||
| ESRI | arcgis online | Atlasing planning tool | ME | https://bates.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html | |
| Blockbusting priorities | Prioritize where people should go | CT | http://ctbirdatlas.org/blog/index.php/2021/12/17/last-chance-to-add-to-the-early-winter-atlas-maps/ | ||
| Blockbusting priorities | Prioritize where people should go | ME | https://sites.google.com/view/atlasblockbusters/home?pli=1 | ||
| R Shiny: Block explorer | R | Provide block level information | NC | https://blockexplorer.ncbirdatlas.org | |
| ArcGIS Online | ArcGIS Online | data entry for technicians | NC | https://analysis.ncbirdatlas.org/login_mdb.php | |
| R Standardize EBD | R | Merge the non-EBD exports with the EBD | MD-DC, NY, WI | https://github.com/breeding-bird-atlases/standardize-ebd | |
| R/PostgresSQL | R | Convert EBD to a Postgres database | WI | https://github.com/nmanich/eBird_to_postgreSQL | |
| R Shiny | R | View block info for data review | WI | https://github.com/nmanich/Shiny-Blockchecker | |
| R wbba_tools | R | Various tools for data review | WI | https://github.com/ngwalton/wbba_tools | |
| R Final block check | R | Tool for final block checking | WI | https://github.com/nmanich/standardize-ebd/blob/main/wibba2_block-list-screens21.R | |
| R Shiny | R | NY Natural Heritage Program server | Block sign-up | NY | https://lab.nynhp.org/bba/ |
| R Shiny | R | volunteer’s shiny site | Check safe dates in field | ME | https://christinemurr.shinyapps.io/CheckDates/ |
| R Shiny | R | volunteer’s shiny site | Check breeding codes in field | ME | https://christinemurr.shinyapps.io/checkBreedingCodes/ |
| Browser extension | online | Get tracks from eBird trip report as GPX | Kent Fiala | https://www.faintlake.com/eBird/extension/TripTracks/ | |
| MongoDB | MongoDB | Dashboard to show progress summary | NC | https://dashboard.ncbirdatlas.org |
Contacts
Interactive Map