Frequently-asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the Kenya Bird Map project

From discussions with Kenya Bird Map atlassers, I have noticed some questions that tend to come up frequently regarding the KBM project and how to participate in it. Many of these pertain to the interaction between the BirdLasser app and the KBM. This article addresses these FAQs and should serve to clarify many aspects of …

How To Avoid Problematic Species Selection Errors When Bird Mapping With BirdLasser

By Kennedy Sikenykeny - Kenya Bird Map Data Manager Validation of data is a crucial process for analysis purposes in any scientific work. This implies that we will inevitably make mistakes which will need to be fixed. Errors are part of life and usually are of different types. As it is difficult to be 100% …

Insights Into The Lesser Grey Shrike’s Migratory Patterns From Kenya Bird Map Data

By Kennedy Sikenykeny - Kenya Bird Map Data Manager The spring migration period is currently in full swing and the Palearctic migrants are busy moving north to their breeding quarters in Europe, Asia, and parts of North Africa. On the other side, intra-African migrants are soon expected to arrive from southern parts of the continent, …

What Has The Kenya Bird Map Achieved So Far? (Zoom Presentation)

The Kenya Bird Map project manager, Sidney Shema, recently gave a brief online presentation on the Kenya Bird Map, as part of the BDI Citizen Scientist Hour series of presentations on Zoom. You can watch it at the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1xLO0viy9M&t=606s

A Coordinated Day Of Atlassing In Nairobi National Park

On the 4th of June 2020, a small team of birders decided to see how many bird species could be recorded in Nairobi National Park in a single day if several people worked together to cover the entire park. The result was 213 species seen and heard on that day! This was quite a decent …

Bird Atlassing in Zambia (12-28 October 2019)

The Kenya Bird Map is part of the greater African Bird Atlas, which covers the entire continent. Many parts of Africa are still poorly atlassed and we encourage our Kenya Bird Mappers to do some atlassing whenever they visit other countries, in order to help increase the Atlas' coverage. Abigail Church, a Kenyan atlasser, recently …

Bird Mapping in the Muumoni Hills, Kitui County

A small team of four birders recently did a short bird mapping trip to the Muumoni Hills of Kitui where we recorded 114 species. We completed full protocol lists for 7 pentads and added some ad-hoc records to a few other pentads. We got an interesting mix of coastal and dry country birds. Check out …

A Trip to the North: July 2019

Article and photos by Mark Bullough I was lucky enough to be able to host my old birding and biologist friend Michael Thain for a first-ever trip to Kenya with his wife, during which I planned to show him a mix of country and a few new species. We had four weeks, during which we …

Bird Atlassing in Kora, Mwingi and Meru

The wild and dry east is currently the least-covered area on the Kenya Bird Map. It's remoteness and relative insecurity being key reasons for this. To try and increase the coverage of this area, we conducted a four-day bird mapping trip to Kora National Park and its environs at the end of May. It was …

Using Major Roads to Cover Unmapped Pentads on the Kenya Bird Map

During our 2018 series on The Current Status of Kenya's Bird Atlas, many of the major gaps in coverage that were highlighted appeared very difficult to reach due to their remoteness. Kenya is, however, a rapidly developing country and there is a fairly decent road network in most parts of the country today. These roads …