J-Bird User's Guide (Version 0.5.2)

Building a master species list

J-Bird expects to build a master list of species when it is launched for the first time. You can use the Sibley Monroe list that is provided with J-Bird, the CINFO or AOU lists, which J-Bird should be able to download from the internet for you, or you can import a custom master list.

• Choice of master lists



• Sibley and Monroe 1993. J-Bird is distributed with the Sibley/Monroe list as of 1990, published by Yale University Press, and including changes from the 1993 Supplement. The list has been assembled by Rolf A. de By, and it is included with J-Bird under terms specified by him. The list contains 9,702 species that have been classified into 146 families. To make use of this list you need to agree Rolf de By's terms and select his list from the choices presented by the J-Bird database builder. Rolf de By's terms are reproduced here.
  
  

  IMPORTANT NOTICE.   I DO NOT HOLD THE COPYRIGHT OF THESE LISTS, AND BELIEVE THERE ARE NO COPYRIGHTS INVOLVED, AS THE NAMES OF BIRD SPECIES ARE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.  THIS IS MY JUDGEMENT AFTER CONSULTATIONS WITH MANY PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE AUTHORS OR PEOPLE CLOSE TO THEM OF THE BOOKS MENTIONED ABOVE.  HOWEVER, I URGE EVERYONE TO LIVE BY THE FOLLOWING RULES:

  1. You may distribute UNCHANGED copies of the file(s).  In all cases of distribution, you should include this notice together with an explicit note that this is the Sibley/Monroe list as of 1990, published by Yale University Press, and including changes from the 1993 Supplement.
  2. You may modify a renamed copy of the files for PERSONAL use only.  Refrain from redistributing such files.
  3. You are NOT ALLOWED to take money for the distribution or use of the file(s) in changed or unchanged form, except for nominal costs for copying et cetera.
  4. You are NOT ALLOWED to distribute printed versions, changed or unchanged, of the file(s).

  THIS IS TO PROTECT YOU FROM ILLEGAL ACTION.

  More information about the lists is available from Rolf de By's web page http://www.ornitaxa.com/SM/SMOrg/sm.html. The list exists in two files that are stored in the downloads subdirectory of the directory in which J-Bird was installed. Families are in the file families.prt, and the species list is in the file smlist.



• Commission Internationale des Noms Français des Oiseaux (CINFO). This list is available with French common names or with English common names. It contains 9,913 species that have been classified into 183 families. To use this list, you need to download it. The database builder can download the list for you if your computer is connected to the internet and if the URL of the list has not changed since J-Bird 0.5.2 was released. The list is available from http://membres.lycos.fr/listoiseauxmonde/foreword.htm. See that page for information regarding the list. The list is an Excel spreadsheet that is contained in a ZIP archive file. The last known URL of the list is http://membres.lycos.fr/listoiseauxmonde/cinfo_sm.zip. When you download the list save the ZIP archive as cinfo_sm.zip on your Desktop or in your home directory. The builder will find the zip archive and unpack it.



• The American Ornithologists' Union Checklist of North American Birds contains 2,038 species in 105 families. This checklist must also be downloaded from the internet, and the database builder can download it for you if your computer is connected to the internet and if the URL of the list has not changed since J-Bird 0.5.2 was released.. The AOU list is available from http://www.aou.org/checklist/. If you download the list, get the "Excel version" and save it to either your desktop or to your home directory.. (The exact link of the file was http://www.aou.org/checklist/birdlist47.xls at the time that J-Bird was released.)
  
  Note that ``upgrading" from the AOU list to a more worldly list is guaranteed to be a frustrating experience. If you believe that you will ever be interested in a broader master list, begin with a world list.
  
  Note that in the past the AOU checklist was distributed as a dBASE ".dbf" file. If you have that file and wish to build a list from it, follow the instructions below for building from tables.



• Tables including files of comma-separated values (CSV), dBASE (DBF) files, Excel spreadsheets, tables in web pages (HTML tables), and tables that are produced by queries of relational databases.
  • The table must provide family names, scientific names and common names of species in the list, and the species must be appear one per line/row in the order in which you want them to appear in checklists.
  • It is OK if family names appear only when they change.
  • Scientific names may be in a single column or split into a column of genera and a column of specific epithets.
  • For genera that contain more than one species, it is OK if the genus name is spelled out entirely for the first species and appears as an initial for remainder of species in the genus. If genera and specific epithets are in separate columns, it is OK if genus names appear only when they change.
  • You will be able to edit tables to clean them up before the list is built. You can delete rows or columns, and you can change names.
  • CSV file names must end with ".csv" to be recognized. Fields that contain commas must be quoted.
  • dBASE file names must end with ".DBF".
  • Excel spreadsheets must have names that end with ".xls", and they must be Excel version 5.0 or later (includes 95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003).
  • HTML tables should be simple tables. That is, cells within the tables should contain just names rather than subtables or lists. Web pages that contain HTML tables should have names that end with ".html" or ".htm".
  • To build a master list from a query of a relational database, you must provide Java drivers for the database and an SQL query that produces a result set that conforms to the requirements listed above. This is an advanced feature, and it is for people who are comfortable working with relational databases in Java.



• Making your selection in J-Bird.


You'll be presented with a list of options for building the master species list. At this point, the choices should look familiar:


For instructions, choose from among the following choices.
• Sibley Monroe list
• CINFO list (English or French)
• AOU list
• Build from CSV, dBASE, Excel, HTML table, or relational database

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Last updated 17 June 2006