An insight into eBird recording

[Martin Butterfield via Canberrabirds <>]

It appears  that the problem I and some others experienced is restricted to iPhones.  Android users had a more useful keyboard, leading a contributor to the discussion on the EBird users FB group to post this image.  Never having used an Android phone I neither endorse nor reject the view expressed.

Martin Butterfield

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

https://mallacootaweatherwildlife.blogspot.com/

On Thu, 2 Sept 2021 at 19:15, Tony Nairn via Canberrabirds <> wrote:

You can save another keystroke by entering number of birds followed directly by the species code, eg 2weho or 57cost.

Also works with whatever text you want (such as a partial code or species name) and then takes you to the species list where you can select the species and the app will enter the number you typed or add it to the existing total for that species.

Happy local lockdown birding

Cheers

Tony

On Thu, 2 Sep 2021, 12:45 pm Martin Butterfield via Canberrabirds, <> wrote:

I will start by saying that what follows is based on my iOS app, but I think the same applies to other mobile phone systems.

I, and I think  many other eBird users, have been very frustrated for years with the keyboard defaulting to numerics rather than alpha.  My thought process has always been “That is species X now count them” and that is how I have always entered them.  The sequence of keystrokes was thus

<Search bar>; <ABC button to shift to alpha>; <3 alpha chars for species>;[<tap + as many times as you saw birds> OR, if it was a largeish flock <tap the species name then enter the number of birds.> then <DONE>

However in a discussion in the eBird Users FB group a supporter of the number-first approach explained a new way of entering the data.  That is:

<Search bar>; <number of birds seen>; <Space bar>; <3 alpha chars for species> <tap species name>.  Tap Search bar again to move on to the next species

This appears in the search bar as "# aaa". If you subsequently see another flock of the same species as you have already entered using the new approach just repeat the same steps.  The app adds your second flock size to that already there.  (Of course if the additional “flock” is only one or two birds you can just tap the number against the species to increment the count.  But if you have a long list the new approach saves scrolling through the list to find the species you want and avoids arithmetic errors .

I used the new approach this morning in entering a list and it seemed both efficient and effective.  I intend to try and train myself to use this approach in future.

Martin Butterfield

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

https://mallacootaweatherwildlife.blogspot.com/

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