Checklist |
In Birder's Diary, a checklist is a list that ties a thing to a location. For example, consider a checklist of birds for the state of Florida. This would associate all birds with the location 'Florida'. Many folks treat the term checklist as synonymous with taxonomic list. In Birder's Diary, we make the distinction for the purpose of clarification. A checklist simply associates things with locations and vice versa. Use the Checklist Editor to maintain checklist data. There is also sophisticated checklist import and export functionality within Birder's Diary for sharing and updating bulk checklist data. |
Classification |
A taxonomic list classifies things by giving them a Linnaean set of Latin names. In Birder's Diary, this includes Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, species and, in the case of a subspecies, a subspecific name. |
Life List |
A life list is the same as a Life List Count, however, it lists the unique species seen in the order seen. If a sighting for a subspecies is recorded in Birder's Diary before one for the full species, then that sighting will be treated as the first sighting of the species. |
Life List Count |
A life list count is considered the number of species (as defined by the selected taxonomic list) seen in a given location for the specified time period. In Birder's Diary, a typical life count would default to the World for all sightings, given a specified taxonomic list. After all, it is the taxonomic list which defines what a species is. In Birder's Diary, you can generate year counts by specifying a date range that covers one year. You can also get your State life list count, by specifying the state in the location field. |
Location |
In Birder's Diary, locations are entities which can represent geographical, political, logical and virtual areas. Locations are tree-like in nature, and each location can have none-to-many children as well as none-to-many parents. This creates relationships best described using the following terms:
In Birder's Diary, when you select a location for most functions, all descendant locations are automatically included. For example, if you produce a Sightings Report for your state; if you have locations defined within that state such as counties and then your neighborhood and home within that county - all sightings recorded against any of those locations will be included! Use the Locations Maintenance window to create/edit/delete locations in Birder's Diary. You can define unlimited locations in Birder's Diary. |
Observer |
In Birder's Diary, an observer is someone that sightings are logged for. You can create an unlimited number of observers in Birder's Diary. Your observers do not have to be an individual. It can be a bird watching group, all reports from a listserve or web site, etc. |
Sighting |
A sighting is central to the design of Birder's Diary and most all functions are centered around a sighting. A sighting consists of a few required parameters:
and several optional parameters:
For example, a sighting might be "4 Blue Jays seen in Colorado on March 1, 2007 by myself". That is a sighting. |
Taxonomic List |
In Birder's Diary, a taxonomic list serves to name, classify and sort things. Things, in Birder's Diary, are separate entities from taxonomic lists and must exist and be defined in Birder's Diary before a taxonomic list can use it. Typically, taxonomic lists address related things, such as birds (members of the Class Aves), reptiles, trees, etc. Different authorities responsible for related taxonomic lists often do not agree on all three parameters (naming, classification, and sort order) for things. For example, one authority may treat the Myrtle Warbler as a subspecies while another treats it as a species. This all works in Birder's Diary, because they are tied to the same underlying thing. So your sighting of one author's Myrtle Warbler (as a subspecies) will still match to another author's Myrtle Warbler (as a species) because that sighting is really linked to the underlying thing, and the taxonomic list references that thing. So, when you produce a life list using one tax list, it will generate different numbers than when using another tax list because one tax list treats a sighting as a full species and thus adds another tick to your life list, while the other tax list treats the sighting as a subspecies. |
Thing |
In Birder's Diary, a thing refers to any uniquely identifiable entity. Anything that someone would want to record sightings of - that's a thing. Things can be uniquely identified by their description. This description can define morphological characteristics; geographical or political locations where they can be found; and/or by breeding populations they are associated with. In Birder's Diary, things consist of a description and comments, along with various common names that it is known by. A checklist serves to associate a thing with a location. A thing is an entity that exists independent of a taxonomic list. Different taxonomic lists serve to name, classify and sort things amongst other related things. In Birder's Diary, you would use the Thing Editor to Create and Edit things. You cannot delete things from Birder's Diary. For example, in Birder's Diary, a thing can refer to a species (e.g. Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dendroica coronata), a subspecies (e.g. Myrtle Warbler - D. c. coronata), or a Family (e.g. New World Warblers - Parulidae). A given taxonomic list would actually associate a defined thing to one of these classifications. |
Trip |
In Birder's Diary, a trip is an optional entity that you can attach to any given sighting. The purpose of a trip is to supply combined comments to a group of sightings. These comments might include notes on where, who, weather, meetings, etc about all sightings in a group. A trip has the following attributes:
You can define a trip before creating the sightings and attach the trip at that time. Or, you can define the trip post-sightings-entry and then go back, edit the sightings as a group and attach the trip to them. |
User-defined Data/Fields (UDFs) |
In Birder's Diary, you can define an unlimited number of data items that are important for you to define with each sighting. You don't have to enter values for each one on each sighting - only where appropriate. You create and maintain these UDFs using the User-defined Sighting Data Setup window. The following data types are available to you:
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