Florida Panhandle: BIRDS (Polygons)

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for diving birds, gulls, terns, passerines, pelagic birds, raptors, shorebirds, wading birds, and waterfowl for the Florida Panhandle. Vector polygons in this data set represent bird nesting, migratory staging, and wintering sites and other spatial/temporal concentration areas. Species specific abundance, seasonality, status, life history, and source information are stored in relational data tables (described below) designed to be used in conjunction with this spatial data layer. This data set comprises a portion of the ESI data for Florida. ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.

The ESI data provide sensitive areas data for oil spill planning and response and other environmental management and natural resource purposes. The Clean Water Act with amendments by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires response plans for immediate and effective protection of sensitive areas. These data also support other related state and federal regulatory requirements for oil spill prevention, planning, response, and restoration.

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. NOAA warrants the delivery of this product in computer-readable format, and will offer a replacement copy of the product when the product is determined unreadable by computer input peripherals, or when the physical medium is delivered in damaged condition.

A multi-stage error checking process is used to verify both attribute accuracy and logical consistency throughout data production. The process includes a standardized data entry methodology, data review by in-house and external resource experts, a final Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) process, and multiple automated logical consistency checks. Quantitative data (such as densities, counts, abundances, or concentrations) provided by resource experts for inclusion in the data set may vary widely in attribute accuracy, depending upon the methodology used to collect and compile such data. For a more detailed evaluation of source data attribute accuracy, contact the sources listed in the Lineage section. The attribute accuracy is estimated to be 'good' given the years of ESI experience, the data input methodology, the quality control review sessions, and the digital logical consistency checks.

Spatial components for the biological data layers can come from expert interviews, hardcopy, or digital sources. Some of the spatial components of the biological data layers may have been developed using regional experts who estimate concentration areas. It is difficult to estimate the positional accuracy of such data, except to state that they are compiled on hardcopy base maps with a scale of 1:24,000. Some of the spatial components of the biological data sets are developed from pre-existing digital or hardcopy sources and reflect the positional accuracy of these original data. Note that biological resource data by their very nature are considered "fuzzy", and this should be understood when considering the positional accuracy of vector digital objects representing these resources. See the Lineage and Process_Description sections for more information on the original source data and how these data were integrated or manipulated to create the final data set.

These data represent a synthesis of expert knowledge, available hardcopy documents, survey data, maps, and digital data on bird nesting, migratory staging, and wintering sites and other spatial/temporal concentration areas. These data do not necessarily represent all bird occurrences in Florida Panhandle. The following species are included in this data set: (Species_ID, Common Name, Scientific Name [n/a if not applicable]): 1, Common loon, Gavia immer; 8, Double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus; 12, Canada goose, Branta canadensis; 15, Snow goose, Chen caerulescens; 16, Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos; 17, Northern pintail, Anas acuta; 18, Green-winged teal, Anas crecca; 20, Northern shoveler, Anas clypeata; 21, Canvasback, Aythya valisineria; 23, Lesser scaup, Aythya affinis; 24, Common goldeneye, Bucephala clangula; 26, Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola; 27, Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis; 33, Red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator; 34, American coot, Fulica americana; 35, Parasitic jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus; 38, Herring gull, Larus argentatus; 40, Ring-billed gull, Larus delawarensis; 42, Bonaparte's gull, Larus philadelphia; 45, Common tern, Sterna hirundo; 54, Great blue heron, Ardea herodias; 55, Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus; 58, Greater yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca; 59, Lesser yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes; 62, Least sandpiper, Calidris minutilla; 63, Dunlin, Calidris alpina; 64, Short-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus; 66, Western sandpiper, Calidris mauri; 67, Sanderling, Calidris alba; 69, Semipalmated plover, Charadrius semipalmatus; 70, Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus; 71, Black-bellied plover, Pluvialis squatarola; 73, Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres; 76, Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus; 77, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus; 86, Least tern, Sternula antillarum; 87, Little blue heron, Egretta caerulea; 88, Great egret, Ardea alba; 89, Snowy egret, Egretta thula; 90, Black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax; 91, Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus; 93, Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis; 94, Tricolored heron, Egretta tricolor; 97, Green heron, Butorides virescens; 98, Laughing gull, Leucophaeus atricilla; 107, Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus; 115, White ibis, Eudocimus albus; 118, Brown pelican, Pelecanus occidentalis; 119, Magnificent frigatebird, Fregata magnificens; 120, Yellow-crowned night-heron, Nyctanassa violacea; 124, Redhead, Aythya americana; 126, Brown noddy, Anous stolidus; 127, Sooty tern, Onychoprion fuscatus; 128, Masked booby, Sula dactylatra; 132, Wood stork, Mycteria americana; 133, Black skimmer, Rynchops niger; 134, Gull-billed tern, Gelochelidon nilotica; 135, Sandwich tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis; 136, Caspian tern, Hydroprogne caspia; 137, Royal tern, Thalasseus maximus; 138, Forster's tern, Sterna forsteri; 139, Snowy plover, Charadrius nivosus; 142, Black-necked stilt, Himantopus mexicanus; 148, Ruddy duck, Oxyura jamaicensis; 152, American oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus; 153, Piping plover, Charadrius melodus; 154, Wilson's plover, Charadrius wilsonia; 155, Willet, Tringa semipalmata; 162, Gadwall, Anas strepera; 163, Reddish egret, Egretta rufescens; 167, Northern gannet, Morus bassanus; 169, American wigeon, Anas americana; 173, American white pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos; 180, Ring-necked duck, Aythya collaris; 181, Northern harrier, Circus hudsonius; 186, American black duck, Anas rubripes; 190, Blue-winged teal, Anas discors; 191, Wood duck, Aix sponsa; 193, Black tern, Chlidonias niger; 199, Pomarine jaeger, Stercorarius pomarinus; 210, Marbled godwit, Limosa fedoa; 211, Mottled duck, Anas fulvigula; 220, Merlin, Falco columbarius; 261, Brown booby, Sula leucogaster; 277, Seaside sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus; 283, Bridled tern, Onychoprion anaethetus; 287, Audubon's shearwater, Puffinus lherminieri; 293, Yellowlegs, Tringa spp.; 299, Scaup, Aythya spp.; 302, Scoters, Melanitta spp.; 305, Red-cockaded woodpecker, Picoides borealis; 309, Florida sandhill crane, Antigone canadensis pratensis; 339, Band-rumped storm-petrel, Oceanodroma castro; 406, Cinnamon teal, Anas cyanoptera; 445, Wilson's storm-petrel, Oceanites oceanicus; 459, Florida burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia floridana; 461, Southeastern American kestrel, Falco sparverius paulus; 529, Cory's shearwater, Calonectris diomedea; 603, Black-capped petrel, Pterodroma hasitata; 859, Scott's seaside sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus peninsulae; 865, Great shearwater, Puffinus gravis; 952, Red knot, Calidris canutus rufa; 966, Marian's marsh wren, Cistothorus palustris marianae; 967, Eastern black rail, Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis; 1002, Shorebirds, n/a; 1005, Raptors, n/a.

A multi-stage error checking process, described in the above Attribute_Accuracy_Report, is used to verify both attribute accuracy and logical consistency throughout data production. This process includes multiple automated logical consistency checks that test the files for missing or duplicate data, rules for proper coding, GIS topological consistencies, and SQL SERVER(R) to ArcGIS(R) consistencies. A final review is made by the ESI manager, where the data are written to CD-ROM and the metadata are written. RARNUM's are defined on an element basis, so 'resources at risk' groupings will contain only a single element.