The International Shorebird Surveys

Guidelines &
Request for Help ...

This is our request for help with the International Shorebird Surveys (ISS). We'd be delighted if you could help us during the spring or autumn migration, and best of all, both! If your site is a good shorebird area in one, but not the other season, we'd be very keen to know. The best way is to give us counts for both seasons, but if you can't do that, a simple statement would be much better than nothing.

The following guidelines are designed to assist you as an ISS cooperator, and to encourage basic consistency between surveys, for purposes of analysis and reference. We have tried to keep them to a minimum, in order that they don't interfere with your shorebirding. If you feel they are too restrictive, or inappropriate to your area, or for some reason cannot be met, please contribute whatever information you can, and let us judge whether or not we can use it. Also remember that we are not just interested in high counts; low counts tell part of the story too, and are important factors when looking for changes in the use of an area.

We hope you can join us. If you have questions about the enclosed materials, please don't hesitate to contact us!

SPRING MIGRATION

1980 was the first year we asked for assistance with spring shorebird counts. These have proven to be extremely useful data. Consequently, we're continuing to ask for counts.

Dates -- from 1 April through 10 June.

Frequency -- Our request is for one count during each third of April and May, and one during the first ten days of June. In other words, one count between 1 and 10 April, another between 11 and 20, and another between 21 and 30, etc. If you could count more often, we'd be delighted. If you count less often, it still would be helpful to have whatever you've done -- we still can make good use of your help.

AUTUMN MIGRATION

A. Sites with fewer than three year of ISS coverage

If this will be less than your fourth autumn of ISS counts, we'd like to have counts made once each third of the month from 11 July through 31 October. As is always true, we'd be delighted to have more counts if you'd be interested in making them. Fewer than our requested number is less useful, but can be helpful to certain of our analyses -- even one count is better than none.

Finally, if you'd like to continue your counts after 31 October, we'd be delighted.

B. Sites with three or more years of autumn counts

In general, the more counts which are made at an ISS site, and the longer the record of years, the more valuable a census series becomes as a scientific record. On the other hand, some ISS cooperators tire of the census routines and would like to cut back on their effort; they can still help by counting a minimum of once between the 15th and 31st of each month from 15 July until 31 October. But we'd like to reiterate that the 10-day counts, as described above, provide the most useful record.

C. Continuation of counts in an established ISS site by a new Cooperator

If you are covering a site for another cooperator, please try to minimize the change in coverage by consulting with them about their routine. If changes are necessary, we would appreciate a description of the changes and a guess as to how this might affect the new counts.

CENSUS TIME AND LOCATION

Please choose a site that is convenient to you, and visit it at times convenient for you. At coastal sites, IF CONVENIENT, please try to count during times when the census will be most accurate. At some coastal stations this will be at high tide when birds gather at resting areas, or at other sites it may be at lower tides when they are feeding. In any case, please record the tide as best you can, as follows: 1 = high; 2 = almost high, and rising; 3 = almost high, and falling; 4 = half tide, rising; 5 = half tide falling; 6 = almost low, rising; 7 = almost low, falling; 8 = low; 9 = not observed, not applicable, or observations made during more than one of these periods. Please also record the approximate time of your count.

At inland sites, please record the time, and in wetlands (including lakes, ponds, etc.) tell us whether you think the water levels were normal (N), High (H), or Low (L).

CENSUS ACCURACY

At best it is rather difficult to count a thousand small sandpipers milling about on a beach, and of course, we won't ask you to try. However, we would like to know if your tally is actually a count, an estimate made by a more of less methodical procedure, or an outright (albeit educated) guess. A systematically-made estimate is one where you actually have a chance to count one or more portions of a flock and then extrapolate the total number form the count(s). An educated guess ("guesstimate") is when you look at a flock and estimate the number of birds in it -- it's the method most of us use. If your tally is a count, please place an asterisk (*) next to it; if it is a figure extrapolated from a count, please place two asterisks(**) next to it, and if it is a "guesstimate," please circle it.

SPECIES IDENTIFICATION

We cannot always identify all of the shorebirds we see. Often, for example, it is not practical to look at a large flock and identify each of 5,000 Semipalmated Sandpipers. Most of us check a portion of the flock, and make our identification, brushing over the possibility that one or two Western Sandpipers may be present. For the International Shorebird Survey, please record as "identified" ONLY the birds that you HAVE identified. Thus, if you identify 100 Semipalmated Sandpipers from among 5,000 peep, please record them as 100 Semipalmated Sandpipers and 4,900 peep. If you did not identify any of the sandpipers but presumed they were all Semis, please record them as 5,000 peep. If you are not sure whether a flock was comprised of Sanderlings or a mixture of Sanderlings and Sandpipers, please make a new row labeled "peep/ Sanderling?" or even shorebird sp.?" In short, resist the temptation to present accuracy that does not exist!

REPORTS

Please return your reports (see below) to the ISS at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences (P.O. Box 1770, Manomet, MA 02345)  as soon after you finish your counts as is convenient. It would be appreciated if all reports were returned before 15 March of the year following your counts. Persons who wish to continue cooperative censuses through the spring migration are encouraged to do so. Forms will be sent upon request.

Any notes about your census area, including location and description, would also be appreciated. These can accompany your report, or be sent separately. The enclosed questionnaire can be used for this purpose, but feel free to use any alternate method you choose.

ABOVE ALL,

Enjoy your shorebirding. We hope our requests add to your shorebirding enjoyment, or at least do not detract from it, but should it dampen your enthusiasm, for gosh sakes, don't bother with it. If you wish to send a note with some constructive criticism, or suggestions, please do so. This whole project is a cooperative effort . . . we are all in it together helping to gather information that ultimately will benefit shorebirds. Any help and suggestions are welcome!

This page last updated January 2003