I agree one hundred percent: the CBC data base very useful and there isn't a
better source of information of winter distribution of birds in the
Americas! You just have to recognize the errors inherent in it, just as you
have to do with any data set!

The CBC is also great for distribution data. If a bird is on the CBC list,
it was there at least for one day during that winter. If you look at the
presence/absence and correlate it with other data (over time or over space)
you can see some real trends.

Besides, what's five dollars? I spend more on Pepsi in a week and get less
enjoyment from the Pepsi! Even on a grad student budget, I can afford a
couple of counts a year. A few local Audubon Societies pay for people who
count but can't afford to pay through a donation program.

Deb Beutler
Dept. of Zoology
Washington State University
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA

dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Tangren <tangren at wsu.edu>
To: TWEETERS at u.washington.edu <TWEETERS at u.washington.edu>
Date: Monday, December 07, 1998 2:08 PM
Subject: my two cents on CBC's


>Great discussion, think I'll jump in.
>
>1. Perhaps it's time for Audubon to turn the CBC over to
>another group, perhaps a new one dedicated to the CBC.
>Audubon is trying to be too many things. Let someone
>manage it who cares for more than money. They don't need
>to give up the name. It could still be called the Audubon CBC.
>They've sold their name out so many times, it probably doesn't
>mean much anymore anyhow.
>
>The CBCs are being taken over at the state level here and there
>anyway, and we're losing the coordination.
>
>2. The mere mass of data available makes the CBC extremely
>valuable. Sure, you can complain out about the precision of
>the individual numbers, but the general and universal trends
>it reveals are quite obvious.
>
>3. Furthermore, it forces local people to think about changes
>in local habitat where they may not always. "We used to get the
>Bob-tailed Wren-shrikes at this spot every year, but every since
>they opened that tire-iron plant, we've missed them."
>
>--Jerry <tangren at wsu.edu>
>