Raven opens the field guide on the workshop table. "Look at the Seen most column," she says.
Rocket squints. "It is just a list of months."
"It is more than a list," Raven says. "Those months are data. Someone saw this animal and wrote it down."
Nova flashes a cyan chart above the page. "Every record is a dot," she says. "Many dots make a pattern."
Data is a set of facts or numbers that someone collected.
The months in your field guide are data. They come from sighting records.
A sighting record is a note. It says who saw which living thing, where, and on what date.
When thousands of people share records, scientists can count them by month.
The months with the most records become the "Seen most" months in your guide.
A month with many records can mean the animal is there and easy to see.
It can also mean more people were outside looking in that month. Data needs careful reading!
These are the birds people record most where you live. The months show when they are seen most.
Read the months like a scientist. Which birds are seen all year? Which are seen in only some months?
| # | Name | Science name | Seen most |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura | Mar to Aug |
| 2 | Northern Cardinal | Cardinalis cardinalis | Feb to May |
| 3 | American Robin | Turdus migratorius | Apr to Jun |
| 4 | American Crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos | Sep to Jun |
| 5 | Blue Jay | Cyanocitta cristata | Mar to May, Sep to Oct |
| 6 | Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | Nov to May |
| 7 | Canada Goose | Branta canadensis | Jan to May |
| 8 | Song Sparrow | Melospiza melodia | Mar to Jun |
| 9 | Red-winged Blackbird | Agelaius phoeniceus | Mar to Jun |
| 10 | House Finch | Haemorhous mexicanus | Sep to Jul |
Whole United States. Names and months come from records people shared on GBIF.org. Your yard may have different neighbors.
Look at the months for one animal. Ask three questions.
Is it seen in every month? Then it probably stays all year.
Is it seen mostly in warm months? Then it may migrate here to raise young.
Is it seen mostly in cold months? Then it may spend the winter here and leave in spring.
Remember, the pattern is a clue, not proof. Scientists look for more evidence before they are sure.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| The months in the field guide come from people's sighting records. | ? |
| A month pattern is proof of exactly what an animal does. | ? |
| A bird seen in every month probably stays all year. | ? |
| Only scientists can make a sighting record. | ? |
You read the months like a scientist! Tomorrow we turn numbers into bars and build a graph.