In the Belly of the GBBC Beast #2

A couple hours later and things are getting interesting here at GBBC Central. Numbers of submissions seem way down from last year. Some people are reporting problems viewing the site with AOL and other browsers. A few emails have suggested that the server is slow. We're waiting to hear from our tech folks. Its been a quiet day. Maybe too quiet. Hopefully, any potential IT problems will be worked out tonight, and tomorrow will dawn bright with lots of people out birding and reporting their sightings online.

Meanwhile, here is an

Unofficial GBBC FAQ
Dealing with some of the most common concerns people have (besides browser problems)

What do I do if I make a mistake on my checklist submission?
While we can delete an erroneous sighting, we can't add anything to your original count. If you want to add the correct species, you can just enter a new record. You don't have to submit your whole list again, just submit a checklist with the correct info. Then send us an email telling us which species to delete from your record. Make sure you tell us which state you are in, and give us the submission number if at all possible. We'll then be able to go in and delete the mistake.

How come the GBBC didn't accept my great sighting of (name of cool bird here)?
Out of range species or large flocks of some species are flagged by our database for review by a local reviewer before the sighting is added to the database. If the reviewer has any questions about your sighting, he or she will contact you. This is how we try to ensure the highest possible accuracy in the database.

I think you the GBBC is counting the same birds twice. I reported the same bird two times, and now it says there are two of them in my town.
Its OK. This count helps us know how common birds are in each area, and we figure that out by dividing the number of birds seen by the number of checklists submitted for the area. So, your two reports of fabulous bird X, divided by your two checklists, still just equals one fabulous bird X. The report for your area may appear a little bit misleading if you take it to indicate the actual number of birds present--but now that you know this little GBBC secret, it isn't too confusing, right?