#91 - Citizen Science

My last blog entry was devoted to my first experience trapping and banding hummingbirds. This project was conducted by amateurs (citizens) with data being recorded and published so that it might be used by professionals (scientists).

“Citizen science is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur scientists. Citizen science is sometimes described as “public participation in scientific research,” participatory monitoring, and participatory action research.”

— Wikipedia

Of course, the world wide web has connected us all. Amateur naturalists like me, who observe nature and share our observations, can now contribute our experiences to science. Zoologists and other professionals, who are trained and paid and although not "citizens" in this context are presumably citizens in some respect elsewhere, can utilize data recorded by an networked army of eager contributors around the globe. The observations of the untrained and un-degreed and unpaid individuals like myself might be disparagingly referred to as "anecdotal data" and disregarded by intelligentsia snobbery of the past, but there was nothing "anecdotal" about the data recorded by Lee during our five hour Sunday morning following Hummingbird Monitoring Network guidelines.

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iNaturalist.org began as a Master's final project of students of U.C. Berkeley's School of Information. It grew to become a joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and National Geographic Society. Its primary goal is to connect people to nature. More than three-quarters of a million amateur and professional naturalists are linked by a website and app that allows everyone to learn and share. As the website states, "...by recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature." Research quality data. Observations, usually photographs of a plant or animal taxon accompanied by locality information that includes in most cases GPS coordinates, are posted. Some posters do not know exactly what they have seen. The community identifies and by successive confirmations of identification and other parameters referred to as "data quality assessment" an observations becomes "research grade". 

I just surpassed 300 observations submitted to iNaturalist. What I am most proud about is that of my current 304 observations there are 221 unique species. Some know me as a "snake guy", others as a "spider guy", but in truth I am an opportunistic observer and generalist naturalist with wide-ranging interests. I may sound wisest when I am discussing snakes or spiders, but I can form intelligent sentences when talking bird or bat or wild cat. In a single day I might submit an observation of an agave plant, a paper wasp, a burrowing owl AND a rattlesnake. In addition to my own observations on iNaturalist, I have currently contributed 2654 identifications of other member observations. I limit those to my expertises, and the majority are snakes especially rattlesnakes, although I also have it set up to show me all observations in the Chiricahua Mountains. Using the website or app you can "follow" taxa of interest and my "dashboard" only shows me daily observations of rattlesnakes, other vipers, colubrid snakes, horned lizards and any plant or animal from the Chiricahuas.

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I have only been active on eBird for a week. It is something like iNaturalist but, obviously, devoted exclusively to birds. Birding is a much different pursuit, and observations on eBird include birds that are heard but not seen. Also, instead of photos accompanying the majority of observations, it is based on checklists. You submit species seen or heard, whether you were traveling (moving, hiking) or stationary (sitting, bird feeders), and time of start and duration of "tracking". You then note whether your submitted checklist records all species you were able to identify or whether it is a partial list and more species were observed (seen or heard) than noted on the checklist.

eBird is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. From their website, "eBird began with a simple idea—that every birdwatcher has unique knowledge and experience. Our goal is to gather this information in the form of checklists of birds, archive it, and freely share it to power new data-driven approaches to science, conservation and education. At the same time, we develop tools that make birding more rewarding. From being able to manage lists, photos and audio recordings, to seeing real-time maps of species distribution, to alerts that let you know when species have been seen, we strive to provide the most current and useful information to the birding community". eBird is the world's largest biodiversity-related citizen science project.

I first only used the website version, and the initial reason I began looking at eBird to fill in the whiteboard I maintain in the VIC (Visitor Information Center) listing all observed bird species observed in our section of the Chiricahua Mountains, from Portal to Paradise, through Cave Creek Canyon and up to high elevation at Onion Saddle and Rustler and Barfoot Parks. Laura, who taught me loads about birding and is a volunteer that has now pushed on to Oregon, used to take care of our bird lists but now that duty has fallen to me. I am officially now an avid birder, but I don't have her network of birding friends who share everything via Facebook. I'm not so friendly and I don't Facebook. So, to expand our lists to beyond what I personally observe or learn of from birders I interact with at the VIC or on the trail, I use eBird checklists from our area. 

I soon wanted to submit my own lists, especially since I set up my own array of feeders at the corral where my Wheelhouse stands. I have an ever increasing menagerie dining in my campsite, and I now sit with iPhone in hand using the very handy eBird app to record observations in real time. I select location from a list of birding hotspots or my own personal list (you can create a new location), press start and it records start time and duration as I count numbers of birds of a number of species. If I am hiking it can record distance traveled, but I have limited WiFi when out and about and I usually record my hikes only using the GAIA GPS app and submit the checklists when I return to Internet.

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Western Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus), Chiricahua Mountains

The tools I use as a naturalist are only just two examples of citizen science. Volunteering to assist a real research project is an excellent way anyone can contribute. Just learning more about how citizen science works is a first step. Harvard Magazine has an interesting article I recommend those interested in "popular science" read. eBird's own Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a superb primer on PPSR or public participation in scientific research. The latter article mentions how volunteer-collected data has contributed to over one hundred peer-reviewed scientific articles in recent years. 

One type of robber fly devours a different species of robber fly

#90 - Hermosos Colibríes

Most days my 'chores' begin at 5 a.m., plus or minus thirty minutes. The Blue-throated hummingbirds that frequent the feeders at my corral and the VIC feed in the last light of day even as the long-nosed bats are already arriving, but they also seem ravenous before dawn is close to breaking. This morning I was up at 3 so I could replenish feeding stations at both locations, have a quick coffee, banana and shower, and drive seven miles on the dirt road on the other side of the canyon to Paradise.

Paradise was a mining boom town in 1902, with a school, post office, shops, German restaurant, saloons and a red light district, and may have once been home to more than two thousand people at its peak, many of them hopeful miners. But after the 1907 'Money Panic' it went bust. Today there is little remaining of the structures from more than one hundred years ago. Most were knocked down and the lumber hauled away to create structures elsewhere, and the lone full-time year-round resident has usually been Jackie Lewis who operates the George Walker House.

George Walker is a famous man in these parts from "back in the day" and sone of the stories of how the town "Paradise" got its name honored his wife Lulu and their honeymoon there. Today, the George Walker House is a famous birding destination and accommodations in the Chiricahuas with two houses to rent to those in search of solitude and an incredible array of wildlife. Jackie's bird feeders are second to none. Dozens and dozens of seed and nectar feeders are distributed through her bird sanctuary garden and the adjacent cabins, with oranges, glass pots of peanut butter and other treats accompanying them. There are many flowers and agave stalks and trees and shrubs for perches and a rocky, flower-lined stream flowing even during the drought of June.

This morning I arrived at the George Walker House to assist with hummingbird banding for the Hummingbird Monitoring Network (<- click link to get involved or donate). Lee Rogers has been banding the hummers of Paradise for many years, and I was part of a team of five that spent five hours (05:20-11:20) delicately handling tiny little feathered gems. Wearing an illuminated magnifier visor, Lee handles the actual banding, recording species, measurements, condition, and things like fat level and the presence of pollen. As he verbalizes a litany of these observations, Jackie records the data. But let's start at the beginning.

The other twosome of our crew were Bud and Debb Johnson who live in Portal, which is basically where I live even though I am in Cave Creek Canyon itself. Debb is the mayor of the small community and I first met her when I was obtaining a library card. After the Johnsons arrived, Bud showed me how to set up the net traps. We would have two traps and the other hummingbird feeders were removed. The two feeding stations where we trap are perhaps thirty feet apart and our position would form a triangle with the two traps. The net traps themselves are both simple and ingenious. A weighted ring laying on the ground holds the apparatus in position and beneath where the nectar feeder hangs is a rigid deck. Suspended above the deck is the net basket and heavy fishing line runs through eyelets and over a pulley. The fishing line is clamped to a stand where the trappers (Bud and I) sit. As the hummingbirds come in to feed, the trapper quickly releases the small clamp holding the taut fishing line from a sitting position some twenty feet away, thereby dropping the upper basket onto the deck and enclosing the winged jewels inside.

The early hours are cool and the birds are hungry. During our first hour we would occasionally trap five in one drop, especially at the upper trap located in a more open and sunny area. Bud told me he has caught ten at once. Once the birds are trapped, we walk up and reach our arm underneath the basket and gently cup the buzzing bird in hand. Words cannot describe how small and fragile the birds are. Even the large Rivoli's (formerly Magnificent) Hummingbirds that are extremely abundant at the George Walker house only weigh 6-8 grams, despite a five inch height and seven inch wingspan. The little Black-chinned Hummers are a third of the size. I am a large man with huge mitts and so is Bud, but I quickly learned how he deftly cupped them taking special care with their wings, and the tricks for getting them to release the grip of their minuscule feet. Of course, the two-inch bill of the Rivoli's is another concern. As I cupped the hummingbird in my right hand I would reach in with a a little netted drawstring bag held in the other. With right hand carefully enclosing the bird and its wings, I'd reach deep into the little bag and release the bird while pinching the bag shut at the top, pulling the drawstring taut and sliding down a closure on the string. With one, two, three or more birds bagged in this manner I'd then walk them down to a table set in the shade away from the garden where Lee, Jackie and Debb were stationed. There they have a carousel to hang the bird-filled bags individually so they can be processed in the order received. We'll come back to their work.

Our survey lasted five hours and each hour Bud and I saw that temperature, wind and cloud cover are recorded. A Kestrel 400 handheld weather unit is used along with an official digital clock. In addition to the trapped birds we recorded ESCAPEES (birds that were trapped but were able to get out while we had an arm in the basket), VISITORS (birds that entered the perimeter of the trap but were not caught) and CHECKERS (wary birds that investigate the feeder but do not enter the perimeter of the trap). The first couple of hours were hectic as hummingbirds waste no time fueling up as the sun begins to rise in the sky. Occasionally we would have to record stoppages where we would pause our trapping for ten minutes or so because the data team had too many birds to process. Let's get back to what they do.

As I wrote, Lee examines each bird and Jackie records the numerous comments he makes. Some birds have been banded before and the number is recorded along with data, others get banded for the first time. When Lee is done he wraps the bird tightly in a cloak of material (no clue what it is) that is held closed with a little clip. He then sets it on a scale and Jackie records its weight. The final step is what Debb does: revive and release. Debb removes the cloak and holds the hummingbirds bill to a little nectar feeder so it can get the meal it was after when Bud and I unceremoniously dropped a freakin' basket trap on it. They have been grasped, placed in bags, walked to the data station and hung like ornaments on a Christmas tree on the lazy Susan carousel, then held by Lee, cloaked and set on a scale. They need time to catch their breath and lap up sugar water. Debb moves her arm to simulate flight and they get their bearings. She blows on their faces as needed and ensures they are ready to return to the air. She lets them feed as much as they need. Often they lay motionless on the palm of her hand as if not realizing they are free to go. Then, with a burst, the acrobatic aeronauts return to Paradise. Some, lesson not learned, are trapped again the same morning.

We banded exactly one hundred "new" birds over the five hour survey. There were another forty or so "recaptures". Although there can be a dozen or more species of hummingbirds in Paradise or here in Cave Creek Canyon, I refer to the five most common as the "Big 5". That is, the small (normal) sized three: Black-chinned, Broad-billed and Broad-tailed, and the large two: Rivoli's (Magnificent) and Blue-throated. At my camp and 100 yards down canyon at the VIC Blue-throateds are abundant, but this morning in Paradise we heard a couple but trapped zero. The George Walker House is THE place for the magnificent Rivoli's. This brilliant bird with iridescent green gorget and purple frontlet was originally known as Rivoli's, then was changed to Magnificent, but recently was changed back to Rivoli's and again honors some Frenchman. But we still affectionately call them "Mags" for short.

In two weeks I will again be assisting with the banding. I hope I can rearrange my volunteer schedule to always be available to conduct the HMN work in Paradise. Bud and Debb won't be there next time, and I don't think Lee will either, so we'll be doing the best we can. I can't tell you what a thrill it was to help and to hold fifty or so 'colibries' in my hand, and to contribute to knowledge about them worldwide. The information we collected goes into databank so that populations, migration patterns and much more can be studied.

Trap closed over feeder

Lee, Jackie & Debb with the tools of the trade and hanging colibri ornaments

A male "Mag" in Debb's hand, moments before bursting back into the Paradise skies. These basically are tied with Blue-throated for largest North American hummer.

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I'd like to mention one final thing as long as I am devoting a blog entry to hummingbirds. Attracting hummingbirds with flowers and feeding them is a wonderful thing. If you feed hummers please do not use any store-bought products other than the feeders themselves. Manufactured nectars and preservatives and such are dubious at best. Hummingbirds are attracted to the red color of the feeders, they don't need artificial dyes making the nectar red too. Use pure cane granulated sugar only - never brown sugar or sweeteners or molasses or anything else, almost always in a ratio of four parts good clean filtered water to one part sugar. This simulates the 21% sugar content of natural nectar. Heat the water but do not bring to a complete boil. You want the sugar to dissolve quickly but not be syrupy or overheated. I add the sugar when tiny bubbles first form at bottom of pot and stir for twenty seconds or so until completely dissolved and turn off heat, removing it from burner completely after a minute or two. I let my water stand out for twenty-four hours to dechlorinate, but boiling can accomplish this too and removes contaminants. However, some suggest that boiling (or at least overheating) changes chemical composition. Make only enough for one or two days and refrigerate excess. Completely clean feeders every couple of days and immediately if any signs of mold or other fouling is present. There is no need for "Nectar Fresh" or some other bogus preservative if you are militant about fresh nectar and feeder cleaning. You can get small bottle brushes wherever you buy feeders to clean the openings and soak scrub out the rest.