A very small excitement

["Philip Veerman" <>]

This (dearth of "fs" codes) is in part because when I designed the codes, the instructions and the sequence that they went on the GBS chart, it very intentionally emphasised from first to last, the best evidence of local breeding. The instructions are:

"Record any breeding with the first applicable of any of the following codes: ny; nest with young, ne; nest with eggs, fs; faecal sac, on; bird on or seen leaving nest, nb; nest building, cf; carrying food, dy; dependent young, ih; inspecting hollow, di; display, co; copulation, or keep a separate list."

 

Usually within a whole week a "ny" would be observed at some time for the particular nest, in a situation when an "fs" is also observed and so it would be the "ny" that goes on the chart. Also "ny" indicates that the location of the nest has been found, which "fs" does not and thus "fs" alone could be a breeding out of the GBS Site. Ny is more easy to see, so "ny" would be recorded more often. The reason "ny" is before "ne" is that the former is more significant in terms of progress.

 

Sort of like Martin, among the many years of GBS charts that I data entered or proof read I no longer remember whether I recall ever seeing an "fs" entry. The GBS Report doesn't mention the issue, other than on page 106 for the breeding graphs, and beyond that I can't be bothered to check the records.

 

Philip

 

 -----Original Message-----
From: Martin Butterfield [
Sent: Tuesday, 16 December 2014 3:57 PM
To: COG List
Subject: [canberrabirds] A very small excitement

When I was Coordinator for the Garden Bird Survey I noticed that while most of the breeding codes were used, I had never observed a report of fs for Faecal Sac.  So I was very pleased this morning to observe a Noisy Friarbird leave the nest above our lawn and fly at least 50m carrying a small and very neat white parcel!

Martin

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/