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Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Data Entry Manual:
Instructions on how to complete items in advance of the CBC

 Post-a-Date page
 Edit Compilers Names
 View participants list
Download the blank field form
Last date of update: October 31, 2011
Christmas Bird Count office
Audubon Science
545 Almshouse Road
Ivyland, PA 18974
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.christmasbirdcount.org
Compiler’s web page: www.christmasbirdcount.org/compilers
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Table of Contents
1. Computer Requirements for using the CBC data entry system and where to ask for
help................................................................................................................................ 3
1.1 Computer Requirements ...................................................................................... 3
1.2 How to Contact Us ............................................................................................... 3
1.3 CBC Participant Fees policy .................................................................................. 4
2. Getting started. .......................................................................................................... 5
2.1 How to log in and out........................................................................................... 5
2.2 Updating your contact information in the system ................................................. 6
3. The Christmas Bird Count Home data entry Page ...................................................... 7
4. The Compiler Menu..................................................................................................... 8
5. Working with the menus once you are inside your Circle Pages. ................................ 9
6. Posting your count date for the upcoming season.................................................... 10
7. Updating the Compilers for the Circle....................................................................... 11
7.1 Adding a new name to your Compiler or Participant List .................................... 12
8. Edit Participants list ................................................................................................. 13
9. Downloading a blank field form for your circle ......................................................... 14
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1. Computer Requirements for using the CBC data entry system and where to ask for
help.
1.1 Computer Requirements
If you use a PC:
 Windows XP or Windows 7 operating system
 Internet Explorer 8.0 and higher or Google Chrome as your browser
If you use a Mac:
 OSX or higher operating system
 A recent version of Safari as your browser
Browser Settings
 Your browser should be set to allow “cookies”.
1.2 How to Contact Us
By Email : [email protected]
If you are experiencing technical issues, please email us with the following information:
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Your computer operating system (e.g., Windows 7 or OS X).
Your browser and version (e.g., Internet Explorer 8.0).
A complete description of the problem or error message. Please be as precise as possible. Include
the text of any error message, and a description of what you were doing, or trying to do, when you
received the message.
If possible, a screen-capture showing the problem. In Microsoft Windows, a screen capture can be
obtained by holding down the “Alt” key, and pressing “Prnt Scrn” key. Then open up MS Word, or
MS Paint and select from the menus, “Edit”->”Paste”. You should see the screen capture inserted
into your document. Save the document and attach it to your email message.
By Phone: 215-355-9588 x10
By Fax: 215-355-2353
Availability
Support is provided during normal business hours (9AM – 5PM Eastern Standard Time, M-F, except during
the holiday break). During the CBC Data entry period we receive a high volume of requests for help. We will
do our best to address your questions in a timely manner. Thank you for your understanding.
By Surface mail: Send all CBC correspondence and remittance to:
Christmas Bird Count
Audubon Science Office
545 Almshouse Road
Ivyland, PA 18974
Please make sure to include your circle code and circle name on all correspondence. Please do not send CBC
correspondence to the New York City office of National Audubon as that will cause delays.
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1.3 CBC Participant Fees policy
The count fees collected during each CBC help to cover the cost of generating materials for
compilers, producing the annual CBC summary issue, and maintaining the CBC Web site and
database. The policy follows and a printable version is above:
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There is a $5 per field observer fee per CBC. Feeder watchers and observers 18 years of
age or younger are not asked to pay the fee.
Field observers pre-registering on a U.S. CBC for four or more counts pay a maximum of
$20 for the four or more counts per season.
The primary compiler (only) is exempt from paying the fee for his/her count(s). Secondary
compilers must pay the count fee if they participate as field observers. If secondary
compilers are not field observers and only helpers they do not have to pay the fee.
Refunds for pre-paying observers will only be given in the event of a count's cancellation
by the compiler. In the event of an observer paying $20 for five or more counts, in
advance under the new discount, no fee will be refunded if one count is cancelled. If an
observer pays $20 for four counts in advance under the new discount, and one count is
cancelled, $5 will be refunded to the observer.
Non-attendance at a count by a pre-paying individual cannot be refunded.
In Canada, fee arrangements are handled completely by Bird Studies Canada, the
Canadian partner of the CBC.
In countries other than the U.S. and Canada, fees are optional for nationals, but requested
of North American (U.S. and Canada) participants.
All paying U.S. participants and U.S. CBC participants 18 and under will receive a copy of
American Birds: Summary of the CBC, published once per year after the conclusion of the
CBC season. This summary issue contains articles on the many ways that CBC data has
shown us early winter bird population trends, as well as information about those that
participate in the CBC. Participants can opt-out of receiving this publication.
Sponsoring groups, which may be Audubon Chapters, bird clubs, or other entities, in some
areas may cover some or all of the participant fees for a given count or counts.
Since the CBC fee is a requirement of participation it is not considered a donation.
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2. Getting started.
2.1 How to log in and out
Open your browser and go to www.christmasbirdcount.org . That will take you to the CBC
website. From any of the CBC webpages, click on the “Data Entry/Review” link on the righthand side of the page. That will take you to the screen below. Note that you will see this
screen only the FIRST time you enter the system. Subsequently you will go directly into the
system and bypass the login.
Enter your username and your password as indicated. Click on <Log In>.
Click here if you forget your
Username or password
If you have forgotten your username or password click on the link provided and follow the
instructions on the next screen.
To find out your username, fill out your first and last
name and click on submit. The information will be
provided on your screen.
Once you find out your username, click on <Login
Screen> to return to the log in portal.
To find out your password, enter your username, then
click submit. An email will be sent to the email address
you have in your account to reset your password. Follow
the instructions emailed to you to reset your password.
If you are not already registered as a user on the Citizen Science portal (and have never done
data entry on a circle before as a compiler or have never pre-registered as a CBC participant)
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you will need to have a new account created on the system in order to do data entry for a
CBC circle. To have an account set up, contact [email protected] A new account will
be set up for you and you will receive an email with a link to log on and to reset your
password.
If you need to gain access to a different circle or an additional circle than previously, please
contact us at [email protected] to ask for assistance.
Tip: In this new system there is no “logout” link and no need to logout. To exit the system
you simply close your browser.
2.2 Updating your contact information in the system
We will be building additional features into this new system, including an easy page to reach to
update your contact information. Until that feature is available, you can update your account, by
editing your record as it appears under the “Compiler’s List”. See item #7 in this manual for
instructions on how to edit a compiler entry.
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3. The Christmas Bird Count Home data entry Page
Once you are logged you will see the Christmas Bird Count Home data entry screen. Note that the
menus that appeal across this screen will depend on what access you have in the system.
The home screen contains:
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Contact information for the US and Canadian office of the CBC.
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The fees remittance form and fees policy
Links to the Compilers resources webpage that contains the compiler’s manuals, sample
documents, rare bird forms, answers to questions, and other details.
Data entry deadlines
Recommended browsers
You can return to this screen at any time by clicking on “Home” in the upper left part of your
screen.
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4. The Compiler Menu
You will see a Menu item “Compiler” in the upper right. This is where you access data for your
circle(s). The “Compiler menu” will show a list of all of the circles you are assigned to, and the
data entry status of each. To do data entry on a circle, mouse-over the Compiler Menu and select
one of the circles listed there by clicking on it.
Be aware that the Status: indicator will only say “Data Entry begun” when you have completed
the date and time portions of your data entry. This Status: indicator will change to “Completed”
only when you check the “data entry complete” box at the end of the process, after completing all
entry pages.
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5. Working with the menus once you are inside your Circle Pages.
Option 1: Click on this link to open
Participant list work area
Option 2: click on black bar for Participants
list to open the Participant list work area
The items listed on the left-hand side of the page (the navigation) include:
Post the Count Date
Participants List
Compiler List
Enter/Edit Count Data (this area is under construction and not yet available)
Download Blank Field form (spreadsheet format file)
Working in the data entry system will involve opening each page or work area to make edits. You
can use one of two different ways to open each page or work area:
1 – Click on one of the items listed under Circle Management to open it in the work area to the
right.
Or
2 – Click on the black bar that contains the name of the item you wish to edit. If you click on it
once, it opens that work area. If you click on the black bar again, it will close that work area.
Tip – If you have work area open and that screen contains a long list (like your participant list)
you will have a scroll bar appear on the right, inside the work area, that you may need to use.
Tip – If you make any edits to your data, you must click on the update or save link provided on
that page before closing that page. Clicking on the black bar to close an area will NOT save your
data.
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6. Posting your count date for the upcoming season
When you select a circle from the Compiler’s menu you see the menu of items available for
editing on the left, and the work area for Post Count Date open on the right.
Select your count date using the calendar tool that pops up when you click on the down-arrow.
Reminder: CBC count days are Dec 14-Jan 5, inclusive, each season.
Posting the date of your count is an important first step. By posting the date, it is available on the
website for any interested CBC participants to view. If the date is not posted, the circle is not
“advertised” on the web. In addition, the count date is required before you can enter your bird
checklist.
In addition, on this page, you have the option of allowing online registration for your circle. This choice is
completely up to you. The three choices that appear on this screen are described below/ You can decide to:
1) Yes, allow new participants to register online without any contact with compiler in advance
2) Yes, allow new participants in the circle, but do not allow them to automatically sign-up online,
and ask them to first contact compiler through email.
3) No, do not allow any new participants to volunteer for your circle count.
Participants who pre-register online in advance for 4 or more CBC circles pay a flat $20 and therefore can
realize a savings. In order for participants to get this discount, enough circles must be set to allow online
registration of new participants. Be aware of this when making your decision on this option for your circle(s).
For more details on the CBC participant fees policy, please refer to the CBC Participant Fees policy
in section 1.4 of this manual or on the compiler web page at:
http://birds.audubon.org/faq/compilers#600n835
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7. Updating the Compilers for the Circle
The Compilers List page is for the purpose of recording the historical primary and secondary
compilers for the count in the database and for displaying the primary compilers name and email
on the public web site as contact for the circle. This information should be reviewed and updated
each year.
The person who is the primary compiler should be flagged under “IS Primary”. Only one name can
be flagged as primary. Any other names on this list are secondary compilers. If compilers also
participated in the field on count day they can also be listed on the participant list.
To mark the primary compiler, click Edit to the left of the person’s name. That will open the
record for editing (below). Check the Is Primary box and then click on Update to save your
changes.
Save your changes by
clicking on Update
Check the Is Primary
box by clicking in it.
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7.1 Adding a new name to your Compiler or Participant List
For the Compiler list or the Participant list, you can add a name using the following steps.
1. Click on Add New Compiler/Participant
2. Enter the first name and last name into the boxes
3. Click on Search. The system will search for a match. If a match is found you can
select it from the drop-down box. Once you’ve selected the match, press “Submit”
to insert it into your list.
4. If no match is found, you can complete the rest of the form and then click
<Submit> to insert it into your list.
A match is found in this case:
Select the match from
the drop-down and
make any updates on
the form.
No match is found in this case:
If no match, complete
the rest of the form and
click “Submit”
Then click Submit
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8. Edit Participants list
The participants list is available in advance of the count so that you can review and update any
contact information about your participants in advance of the count. A downloadable list of
participants is not yet available in this new version of the application, but we can provide a list for
you on request. Please contact [email protected] to request this.
All participant contact information that was previously entered for your count circle is brought
forward for the current year. In addition, you have a link to enter any new participants for your
circle. Note that any participants that choose to pre-register for your circle (if you set your circle
to allow this) will automatically get inserted alphabetically on your participant list.
To edit a participant record, click on the blue edit link just to the left of the first name. This will
open the screen to edit the record. Make sure to click on Update in the bottom left of the
participants record to save your changes.
Primary and secondary compilers can be included in the participant’s list. Primary compilers do
not have to pay the count fee, but secondary compilers who participate in the field do pay the
fee. Make sure the Payment Required boxes are set to reflect this.
To add new participants to your list, refer to the steps in section 7.1
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After your CBC circle has been conducted, (Dec 14-Jan 5), you will be able to return to this screen
and flag those participants who participated in the count by checking the box under “Include” for
each participant name.
The ability to edit the 5 boxes on the participant list screen will become available in December.
Until then you will need to make any edits to those boxes by editing the individual record.
9. Downloading a blank field form for your circle
Blank Field form is here.
The downloadable blank field form is for your use in providing a customized checklist and field
form for participants to note species, weather conditions and effort while they are out in the field.
This form will not replace the current data entry methods for the circle, but is to be used offline.
Currently there isn’t the capability to upload circle data using a spreadsheet.
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To download the form, click on the link Blank Field Form from the left-hand area under
“Reports/Forms”. A pop-up will appear and ask you to save or open the file. Select to save the
file, and navigate to a location on your local hard drive to save the file.
Once the file has been saved, you can open this file with Excel or other spreadsheet program that
can read *.CSV formatted files.
Once you open the file, it will look something like the sample on the next page, with a list of the
species seen on your circle within the last 50 years, in taxonomic order. Also included will be
areas to complete the effort, time and weather information. You will need to format the document
for your individual printer.
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