How to Use Binoculars
New to birding and birding equipment? Need a refresher tutorial on how to use binoculars? Here is a great video by Jessie Barry on how to use binoculars for birding.
Bird Identification
Below are some PowerPoints to help get you familiar with the most common species of birds you might see during your survey period. These materials are great for beginners and a refresher for intermediate birders.
North Carolina Bird Identification
Allaboutbirds.org is a great resource for online bird identification. They also provide access to different bird calls and songs for each species.
Bird ID Quizzes
You can take these bird ID quizzes to test and improve your birding skill. Once you submit your quiz, you can check out the correct answer.
Beginner Bird Identification Quiz
Intermediate Bird Identification Quiz
Advanced Bird Identification Quiz
Bird Walks for beginner birders in Raleigh
Please contact me at jbai5@ncsu.edu if you are interested in joining bird walks led by our former project coordinator Deja Perkins. You can also follow her on Twitter (@naturallywild) for bird walk opportunities. If we have strong interests in bird walks among our TBC volunteers, Deja is willing to organize a bird walk just for TBC volunteers. This is a great opportunity for beginner birders to improve their birding skills.
AOU Bird Codes
This is only for people who choose to use datasheets to conduct bird counts. Bird codes are not required, but it would be helpful if you use the 4 letters AOU Bird Codes on your datasheets. If you prefer not to use the codes, please use the common name of each species. I have attached the AOU Bird Codes for the Birds in the Training PowerPoint and the Complete List of AOU Bird Codes.
TRIBC Common Birds AOU Bird Codes
Bird Guides
If you don’t have access to a hardcopy Bird ID Guide or if you prefer to go digital, Merlin Bird ID by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a great resource to use while out in the field. It provides common birds in the area, images, and calls of each bird as well as allows you to get ID help on the spot for tricky birds. This app is available for both iPhone users and android users.
Tutorial for Selecting Your Survey Points
Google form to reserve your sites.
Data Collection Protocol at Your Site – Using eBird
An example of an eBird checklist
Link to the example eBird checklist. We encourage you to observe birds that are using the urban habitats. However, if you observe birds that are flying over way above the canopy, you could still report them to eBird but please indicate that information in the species comment. For submitting your data, you can email all of your eBird checklists to jbai5@ncsu.edu. If your privacy setting on the checklist comment is not visible to the public, please send the information from your checklist comments in the email.
Data Collection Protocol at Your Site – Using data sheets
An example of a filled datasheet
The PDF copy of the datasheet can be found under Volunteering > Protocols. Here is the Link to the Google Form to submit your data. You can also mail your copy to us at the following address.
Triangle Bird Count c/o Madhusudan Katti
Dept of Forestry & Environmental Resources
Campus Box 8008
NC State University Raleigh, NC 27695
