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Hi Mark,
Yes interesting issues and I pretty much agree with
all that. All of these issues (except the "traps mynas" one), obviously have
been addressed (to varying extents) in the GBS Report. Some people record
supplementary feeding as part of the "habitat notes" on the top of the GBS chart
and if so, this would generally be entered with any other similar notes into the
Database under the GBS Sheet table, (well I know it was for the first 21 years).
This data field applies to the information for the site for the year and does
not link to the Table with the bird data in it, unless someone outputs it in
that form (which is not likely or in most cases especially useful, because it is
inconsistent). There is small provision for text associated with each breeding
record but not for the count records.
One thing though is that the GBS (unlike many other
surveys such as the BOCA Birds in Gardens and the BIBY of the Sydney BA) relates
to numbers of birds within an about 3 hectare area, rather than just one site.
Thus it slightly removes the immediate importance of the individual "garden" to
the birds of the vicinity. I would suggest that whether or not the person doing
the GBS: feeds birds / provides water / has a dog / has a cat / traps mynas or
any of several other relevant features, (well maybe not the traps mynas) one,
the chances are very high that someone within the 100 metre radius or close
enough to influence the birds observed within your patch has or does these
things. Therefore whether you do put out seed or not matters relatively
little in the totality of things, in that someone else probably will.
Philip
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