eBird’s new treatment of sensitive species was rolled out about 3 weeks
ago. They were planing to highlight and introduce these changes on their
homepage (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/) this week, but server crash at
Cornell presumably delayed that roll-out. The species in Idaho that are
affected include Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, and Gyrfalcon. You can
test this (or discover what species in other regions may be included) by
zooming in on eBird’s range maps. For affected species, you can no longer
see the location-specific blue/red markers for individual occurrences.
Instead you only see the smallest-scale purple blocks indicating one or
more record within that block. Regional editors were not consulted about
which species deserved inclusion, and I don’t want to get into the weeds of
discussing specific species. But, the important point is that this is for
the benefit of birds that are subject to illegal hunting and other forms of
human persecution. Of course, researchers can still access the raw data
for legitimate scientific enterprises.

Look for more details to be highlighted on the eBird homepage (
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/) as soon as they get this week’s server
problems fully rectified.

Good Birding,

Carl Lundblad
Moscow, ID

On Wed, Nov 15, 2017 at 12:57 PM, ‘Larry Arnold’ larnold47@cableone.net
[ible] wrote:

>
>
>
>
> Have folks on IBLE heard about this “blockage” thing?
>
> Any ideas as to what might be hidden in Idaho? Possibly Boreal Owl? For
> you, Cliff……. 😉
>
> Thread begins at bottom.
>
>
>
> Larry
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* obol-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:obol-bounce@freelists.org
> ] *On Behalf Of *Alan Contreras
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 15, 2017 9:07 AM
> *To:* Bob Archer
> *Cc:* OBOL
> *Subject:* [obol] Re: Interesting Ebird update
>
>
>
> “Qualified scientists?” Oh my. Is there a definition or explanation of
> what that means?
>
>
>
> Alan Contreras
>
> acontrer56@gmail.com
>
>
>
> “Nostalgic for Nixon”
>
>
>
> Eugene, Oregon
>
>
>
> www.alanlcontreras.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 15, 2017, at 8:59 AM, Bob Archer wrote:
>
>
>
> “qualified scientists” seem to have access. The rest of us see a 400 km2
> area of where bird was.
>
>
>
> Bob
>
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 15, 2017 at 8:49 AM, Alan Contreras
> wrote:
>
> That would seem to limit eBird’s use for research purposes. If I want to
> know where GGOs were found in Oregon, do I submit a yellow form in
> triplicate swearing not to harm the lovelies?
>
>
>
> Alan Contreras
>
> acontrer56@gmail.com
>
>
>
> “Nostalgic for Nixon”
>
>
>
> Eugene, Oregon
>
>
>
> www.alanlcontreras.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 15, 2017, at 8:45 AM, Bob Archer wrote:
>
>
>
> Seems the block is mandatory, all Gyrfalcon sightings are gone. Great
> Gray Owl are gone. The original observers can see info, that is all.
> Perhaps Mr Irons knows if regional editors have any say?
>
>
>
> Bob
>
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 15, 2017 at 8:43 AM, Alan Contreras
> wrote:
>
> Is the block mandatory or a choice made by the observer?
>
>
>
> Alan Contreras
>
> acontrer56@gmail.com
>
>
>
> “Nostalgic for Nixon”
>
>
>
> Eugene, Oregon
>
>
>
> www.alanlcontreras.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 15, 2017, at 8:41 AM, Bob Archer wrote:
>
>
>
> Ebird now has a list of protected species, you can enter precise location
> info for certain owls etc without info being provided to users of the
> site. Northern Spotted Owl will show as a large block on the range map, no
> balloons. I tested system, try and find all the markers for the Gyrfalcon
> last Feb.
>
>
>
> Feel free to enter Northern Hawk Owl if you find one. Location will be
> blocked. Seems like a good idea rather than entering false info into site.
>
>
>
> http://help.ebird.org/customer/en/portal/articles/
> 2885265-sensitive-species-in-ebird
>
>
>
> Bob Archer
>
> PDX
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>