1. Interactive Map

The home page displays an interactive map showing all approved bird sighting locations. Sighting data is loaded dynamically as you pan and zoom.

Map Controls

Pan and Zoom

Click and drag to pan. Use the scroll wheel or +/- buttons to zoom. On mobile, use pinch gestures.

Tile Layers

Use the layer control (top-right) to switch between Street (OpenStreetMap), Satellite (Esri), and Terrain (OpenTopoMap) views.

Date Range Filter

Use the date range slider (if available) to filter sightings by year range. Only sightings within the selected range appear on the map.

Month Filter

Select a specific month to see only sightings recorded during that month across all years. Useful for studying seasonal patterns.

Markers and Clusters

When zoomed out, sightings are grouped into coloured circles. The size and colour indicate density:

• Small blue circles: Individual sighting sheets or small clusters
• Large orange circles: Dense clusters of many sighting sheets

Click a cluster to zoom in and reveal individual points. Hover over any marker to see a tooltip with the locality name, species count, and species names.

Viewing Sighting Details

Click an individual sighting marker (small blue circle at high zoom) to open the bird card for the most commonly sighted species at that location.

2. Bird Cards

Bird cards display detailed information about a species. They appear in the side panel when you click a map marker or search for a species.

Card Contents

Header

Shows the common name, scientific name, species code (3-digit identifier), and a representative photo (sourced from Wikimedia Commons or a custom upload).

Conservation Status

A coloured badge showing the species' IUCN conservation status: Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, or Extinct.

Statistics

Total sightings, breeding observations, and the date range of records (earliest to latest).

Top Observers

The most prolific observers of this species, ranked by number of sighting records.

Top Localities

The locations where this species is most frequently recorded.

Audio

A bird call recording (from Xeno-Canto) with play/pause controls. Click the audio button to load and play.

Report Sighting

Click "Report Sighting" to navigate to the submission page with this species pre-filled in the species list.

Expanded View

Click a collapsed card to expand it and reveal the full statistics, observer list, locality list, and action buttons. Click the image to view a full-size lightbox preview.

Species Photos

Each bird card shows a representative photo. By default this is sourced automatically from Wikimedia Commons. See the Administration section for details on managing species photos (requires maintainer or organisation admin privileges).

3. Searching

The map page includes a search panel for finding species, observers, and locations.

Species Search

Type a common name, scientific name, or 3-digit species code. Results appear as you type (after 2 characters). Click a result to view the species on the map and open its bird card.

Observer Search

Search by observer name. Selecting an observer filters the map to show only their sighting locations.

Location Search

Search by locality name. Selecting a location centres the map on that area and filters to show sightings at that locality.

4. Atlas Grid Overlay

Toggle the atlas grid overlay using the grid button on the map. This displays the degree-minute coordinate grid that defines the atlas sighting locations.

Grid Resolution

• Zoom 5-7 (overview): 1-degree gridlines
• Zoom 8-10 (regional): 15-minute gridlines
• Zoom 11+ (local): 1-minute gridlines (individual atlas cells)

Grid Labels

Gridlines are labelled with the DDMM (latitude) and DDDMM (longitude) notation matching the data entry format. For example, a gridline at latitude -30.917 is labelled "3055" (30 degrees 55 minutes South).

5. Species Browser

Navigate to Species in the main menu. This page lists all species in the atlas database with their sighting statistics.

Features

• Search: Filter by common name or scientific name
• Sort: By occurrence count (most/least sighted), family, or genus
• Infinite scroll: More species load automatically as you scroll down
• Cards: Each species shows a photo, name, code, conservation status, sighting count, breeding count, and date range
• Click: Click a species card to expand it and see full details including top observers and localities

6. Statistics Dashboard

Navigate to Stats for an overview of the atlas dataset:

• Total sighting sheets, total species records, unique species, and total observers
• Top 20 most-sighted species (bar chart)
• Sightings by month (seasonal pattern)
• Sightings by year (temporal trend)
• Conservation status breakdown (pie chart)
• Breeding records by month
• Top 15 observers by sheet count

7. Chart Builder

Navigate to Charts to build custom visualisations:

1. Search for a species or location using the search fields
2. Select a dimension: Sightings by Month, Sightings by Year, or Breeding by Month
3. Add to chart: Click "Add Series" to overlay the data on the chart
4. Compare: Add multiple series (different species or locations) to compare patterns side by side
5. Clear: Remove individual series or clear all to start fresh

8. Organisations

Navigate to Organisations to browse scientific birding groups.

Browsing

The directory lists all registered organisations. Search by name, region, or country. Each entry shows the organisation name, region, member count, and description.

Joining an Organisation

1. You must be logged in
2. Find the organisation you want to join
3. Click Request to Join (if the organisation is accepting new members)
4. Your request enters a pending queue
5. An organisation administrator will review and approve or reject your request

Once approved, sightings you submit may be associated with the organisation's dataset.

Atlasser Directory

Each organisation card shows a searchable list of atlassers belonging to that organisation. This includes both claimed atlassers (linked to a user account) and unclaimed atlassers (database records not yet linked to a user). Site administrators can click Sign Up on unclaimed atlassers to register a new user account pre-filled with that atlasser's details.

Managing an Organisation

Organisation admins and site admins see a Manage button on the organisation card. The management page allows you to:

• Edit Details: Update description, region, country, and contact email
• Toggle Member Acceptance: Enable or disable new membership requests
• Review Applications: Approve or reject pending membership requests
• View Members: See all approved members with their roles and join dates

9. Coordinate Reference

Latitude (Southern Hemisphere)

Longitude (Eastern Hemisphere)

NSW Valid Ranges

• Latitude: 2800 to 3800 (-28° to -38°)
• Longitude: 14100 to 15900 (141° to 159°)

10. DES2 File Format Reference

Each DES2 text file encodes one sighting sheet. The file must contain at least 17 tab-separated lines in this exact order:

Notes

• Species codes are space-separated and auto-padded to 3 digits (e.g. "9" becomes "009")
• Dates use "dd,mm,yyyy" format with surrounding quotes
• If Location 2 is provided, it is appended to Location with a comma (e.g. "Centennial Park, Sydney")
• Per-species comments (line 18+) use the format "code,comment text" with quotes
• A species appearing in both breeding and non-breeding lines will be imported twice -- ensure codes appear in only one section
• Maximum file size: 512 KB per file