1. Begin your field work at dawn or as soon thereafter as possible; try to count until dark; the hours between dawn (about 5:30 a.m.) and noon are the most productive hours of the day.

2. Owling is encouraged; keep a record of hours spent and miles driven while owling and report them separately from daylight field work.

3. Keep (or have a party member keep) a list of all birds seen and heard in your territory; try to limit the amount of estimating of bird numbers that you do (i.e., as much as possible, add each bird to your list as it is observed); keep separate lists if you cover more than one territory or if you split up into two parties during part of the day; at the end of the day, use the "Check-list of Putnam County, Tennessee, Birds" to submit data.  Do not include numbers of downy young with numbers of adult birds; keep a separate list for downy young.

4. Record your party's miles and hours afield as accurately as possible; keep separate hours and miles for different territories or for times when your party splits up.

5. Accept only records about which you are certain; when in doubt, throw it out (tactfully).

6. Obtain details in writing for all very uncommon and rare species (see check-list for species that are "vu" or "r") and all species not on the check-list.

7. Write down the name of each participant as he/she wishes it to appear in the published version of the count.

8. Try to get out into your territory at least once before the count to scout out roads and unusual species.

9. Have a good time on the SBC.

1. Give your name as you wish it to appear in a publication to your party leader.

2. Submit no birds to your party leader unless you are 100% certain of their identity.

3. Help your party leader by driving, keeping numbers of birds on a check-list, etc., whatever he/she needs.

4. Enjoy the SBC and compilation dinner.

1. Count only birds on your own property or within one-tenth of a mile thereof. If your property is large, you might want to consider being listed as a field observer.  Note: you are NOT restricted to counting just the birds at your feeders.

2. Be conservative in counting (i.e., for each species count only the highest number of birds seen at one time--or the highest number of males plus the highest number of females for dimorphic species like cardinal).

3. Keep careful account of your exact number of hours counting.

4. Submit your data at the compilation dinner or have someone else do it for you if at all possible.

5. Enjoy your time counting birds, knowing that you are also advancing the cause of bird conservation.

Quick links to other sections of this website:

• HomePage for SJS

• The BirdPage

• The ButterflyPage