The Home , , and Bird Banding Data

Valerie M. Freer Sullivan County Community College Loch Sheldrake, NY 12759

anybackyard bird banders know that a homecom- puter would help with the mountains of data that A B D E F G H i they have accumulated, but are not sure how. Just what can the computerdo? How doesone learn how to use it? Is it necessaryto learn to program the computer?These are the kinds of questionsthat will be addressedin this article.

First, you should know that you can do a great deal with your bandingrecords on a home computerwithout learn- ing to write your own programs for the computer. Pro- grams can be purchasedthat will allow you to analyze your data without knowinganything at all'abouthow the computer works. One of the most versatile of these pro- gramsis VisiCalc. VisiCalc was the first of a group of pro- gramscalled electronic spreadsheetsand was the biggest seller of all nongameprograms. VisiCalc (or FlashCaic, Figure 1. A portion of the VisiCalc screen. the most recentversion) or a similar programis available for every home computer. Electronicspreadsheets allow mathematicalrelationships Beforepurchasing any program,you shouldthink careful-- to be created between cells. For example, if a cell named ly about what you would like to do with your bandingdata C1 contains the formula C1 = A1 + B1, then C1 will on a home computer.It is not very practicalto storeevery displaythe sum of the contentsof cellsA1 and B1. If new piece of information gathered on every bird, simply are entered in A1 and B1, cell C1 will show their duplicatingthe informationon field sheets(although some new total. computer users do this, using programs called data management database programs). Some banders use a Figure 2 illustratesa simple use of VisiCalc to analyze computerto prepare bandingschedules at the end of the hypotheticalfall bandingdata for one species.A portion year; however, this use will not be addressedin this arti- of one month is shown here. The fall bandingseason is cle (write the Banding Lab for information}. Perhapsthe divided into five-day periods acrossthe top of the sheet, simplestway to get startedwith a computer is to use it and the numbers of HY and AHY birds banded are to analyze certain portions of your data, such as your enteredbelow each five-day period. Formulasare entered springor fall migrationbanding of one species.This kind so that the computer automatically calculatesthe total of analysis can be done using VisiCalc. numbers of HY and AHY birds caught and the percent that were HY [columnG, H and I). Specialcommands are VisiCalc is an extremely versatile program that was used by typing the symbol "@". For example,when the created to be used in businessaccounting. It is a large command@SUM( ) is typed in, the computerwill total "electronicspreadsheet" consisting of 254 rows and 63 all the numbers contained in the cells specified in the columns. (Most other spreadsheetprograms are very parentheses.Cell G4 containsthe formula @Sum(B4...F4) similar, and the following description of VisiCalc will and cell G5 contains the formula @Sum(BS...FS).(For- apply with minor modifications.)Each row is assigneda mulas appear at the top of the screenbut not in the cell; number, and each column a letter (seeFigure 1). The in- their resultsappear in the cell.) Cell I4 containsthe for- tersections of the rows and columns are called cells. Cells mula (G4/H4) x 100, dividing the number of HY's by the are identified by their column-row coordinates(for ex- total caught,then multiplying by 100 to produce the per- ample, cell B4 is outlined in Figure 1}. These cells can be cent of HY's. It is easy to determine the total number of filled with three kinds of information: labels, numbers, HY and AHY birds caught during each time period for or mathematicalformulas. A lighted block called a cursor all yearscombined (as in cell B!6, containingthe formula can be movedaround the screen,allowing you to type in- @SumB4, B7, B10, B13).VisiCalc also has severalother formationinto the cells.While the computerscreen shows built-in functions similar to "@Sum." For example, it can only a small protion of the spreadsheetat one time, the determine the highest number (@MAX) or the average sheetcan easilybe movedto bring any otherportion into number (@AVERAGE) of Catbirds banded during any view. given time period.

Apr.-Jun.1986 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page53 banding seasonare entered. The only restrictionsto be A B C D E F G H I consideredare the dimensionsof the spreadsheetlyou're I 2 Catbirds August Sub- Total % not likely to run out of rows with 254, but the number Banded 1.5 6.10 11.15 16.20 21.25 total HY+AHY HY 3 of columns--63--can be restrictive). 4 1978HY 2 3 6 8 19 24 79.17 5 AHY 1 2 1 1 5 6 Another limit is posedby the amount of memory in your ? 1979HY 7 3 2 5 5 22 26 84.62 computer.A greatdeal can be accomplishedusing a com- s AHY 2 1 1 4 puter having64K {about64,000 bytes of memory--roughly 9 lO 1980HY 10 6 9 2 27 32 84.38 that many individual characters),and I recommendthat 11 AHY 1 2 1 1 5 you usea. computer with at leastthat much memory.The 12 VisiCalc program itself uses about 34K, so you are left 13 1981HY 4 7 5 8 24 29 82.76 with about 30K for your data entry. The spreadsheetil- 14 AHY 1 2 2 5 lustrated here uses about 12K when data from 3 months 15 16 TOTHY 9 20 15 25 23 GRANDTOTAL, HY'S: 92 for each year from 1970 to 1982 are entered. 17 18 TOTAHY4 3 6 5 1 GRANDTOTAL, AHY'S: 19 19 VisiCalccan be usedto look at your bandingdata in other 2o TOTAL: 13 23 21 30 24 OVERALL% HY'S: 82.88 ways. You might chooseto study bandingreturns to deter- mine the minimum age of each bird and the percent of Figure 2. VisiCalc used to summarize fall banding of returns in each age group. Some of the spreadsheetpro- one species. gramshave a calendarfunction {asin AdvancedVisiCalc) which will automatically calculate the age in days or A great advantagein doing this on the computer rather months when you enter the banding and return dates. than on paper is evident when you make an error. Using a computer,you simply type in the correct number and When you havebecome familiar with the spreadsheetpro- it automaticallyrecalculates all the formulas. Changing gram, you can useit to calculatesimple statisticsfor you. a formula is also easily done. For example, it is not difficult to produce a program that shows the mean, standard deviation, and variance for a If you had to createthis form for every species,the com- group of wing lengths.You can also find the correlation puter wouldn't be much help. This, however, is another coefficient between any two groups of numbers, such as way the computer can save work. A master form, or wing lengthand weight,or numberscaught and net-hours. template, is created and is saved on the diskette with no Perhapsone of the most satisfyinguses of VisiCalc is in data entered. This form consists of the dates and labels producinggraphs directly from your data. {This requires acrossthe top of the sheet, the labels in column A, and a separategraphing program, such as VisiPlot.) the appropriateformulas in each cell where calculating will be done. Once this form is saved on your disk In order to get started using a home computer to analyze {perhapsunder the name "template"), it may be used some of your data, you will need the following: a com- repeatedlyto enter data for as many speciesas you like. puter having at least 64K of memory, a disk drive, and When used for Gray Catbird, the name is entered in cell VisiCalc or some other spreadsheetprogram. A printer A1, the data are entered, and the form is saved on the disk is highly desirable. Excellent referenceson any of the {perhapsunder the name "Catbird"). Now you have two spreadsheetprograms are available at any bookstore. spreadsheetson your disk {"template"and "Catbird")and can usethe template againfor anotherspecies. The same Many newer spreadsheetprograms such as FlashCalcor form could be usedfor groupsof species{all flycatchers, have greater capabilities than the original for example)or for your total catcheach season.By modi- VisiCalc, and other programs IAppleworks,Lotus 1-2-3, fying the form you could easily produce monthly totals. Jazz, SuperCalc 3) contain word processing,graphics, Or the time periodscould be shortenedor lengthened;if database,and other programsalong with the . daily totals are required, the individual dates could be Unfortunately, these are more expensive,require more listed down the left side with the years acrossthe top. computer memory, and are harder to learn. If you have the opportunity to begin with either a new or an older It is not necessaryto include room for future years when version, take it--the amount you can do with either is almost unlimited. planningyour spreadsheet.VisiCalc allows you to insert rows {or columns), so this form can be used for many years. The program will automatically recalculate the (Eastern) totalsat the right and on the bottom after data from a new

Page 54 North American Bird Bander Vol. 11, No. 2