You should record only birds associated with the woods you are surveying, and not field species or those from near by woods. If it is only one bird you can take a few minutes out between stations to track it down. Please try to ensure that there are no species identification errors. It occurs most often when an observer is having problems identifying one bird and concentrates so hard that they don't hear the others. 3 Example of Forest bird mornitoring data sheet with standard symbols key Recording data on data form See above sample data form.
Record start time for each station.
A range circle is provided on the data form to assist you in keeping track of bird positions and movements. The circle is for your use only and does not enter into the data tabulation. Birds are recorded using the four-letter codes provided on the summary sheet. You might want to take a copy of the sheet with you in the field- at least until you can remember the codes for the species on your site. The information on bird observations you recorded on your Data Form is used to interpret the number of breeding pairs or territories on each station, and that interpreted information is transcribed onto the Summary Sheet.