Product Support

Email all enquires to: mail@bluebirdtechnology.com

We aim to respond to all enquires within 48 hours.


Bird Journal Tutorials

We have produced a set of video tutorials to get you started using Bird Journal.

1. How to apply hierarchical locations.

2. How to create your own custom properites.

3. How to backup your database.

4. How to restore your database.

5. How to assign eBird properties and export to eBird.

6. How to import data from eBird.new

7. How to import data from Wildlife Recorder.

8. How to import, create new and export wildlife checklists.

9. How to create new bird checklists.

10. How to create synonym names for bird names and quick codes.

11. How to add general and sighting photos to an entry.

12. How to add a new entry using the smart search and checklist style entry.

FAQ

1. Which taxonomic authorities does Bird Journal have lists for?

Bird Journal supports a number of taxonomic authorities, and more will be added over time.

2. How accurate are the species counts?

Species counts are accurate to the primary taxonomy selected in Bird Journal. The taxonomy chosen will be considered first for species names, counts and classifications.

To maintain accurate species counts between countries, taxonomies may only be used in countries where they are relevant.

3. How many sightings and photos can Bird Journal store?

Bird Journal can store a 'practically' limitless number of sightings and photos. For example, one user has over 1800 entries (each with typically 60 sightings), and well over 2000 photos, spanning a period of almost 20 years. Bird Journal remains just as smooth and responsive with this amount of information.

4. I have thousands of sighting records, how reliable is Bird Journal?

Software released by Bluebird Technology is passed through rigorous quality tests both in house and by genuine users. We have fully tested Bird Journal to ensure it is reliable and bug free. Bird Journal is fully supported by Bluebird Technology, if you do have any problems using Bird Journal please contact us.

5. When printing gray scale graphs, why is the print quality poor?

Your current printer setup can effect the printing of gray scale graphics. Please refer to you printer manual and ensure Improve gray printing is checked, this option is usually found in the printer preferences screen.

6. Is Bird Journal available for the Mac?

Bird Journal can be used on the Mac using Parallel Desktop software. We hope to provide full native support for Mac users in the future.

7. How do I restore a backup?

Bird Journal version 2 has an automatic backup feature. For version 1, it is a manual process, but quite easy:

• Run the newly installed Bird Journal once, and then exit. This creates a blank new database.

• Search on the drive that has Windows installed (probably C:), for the blank database - a file called "user.birdJournal". If you cannot locate the file then depending on which version of Windows you are running; the file "user.birdJournal" can be found from here:

In Vista and in Windows 7 it is located here: C:\Users\ [Username] \AppData\Local\Bluebird Technology\Bird Journal

In XP it is located here: C:\Documents and Settings\ [Username] \Local Settings\Application Data\Bluebird Technology\Bird Journal

Where [Username] is your Windows login name.

• Verify that the file found is indeed the correct blank database; it should be a small file of around 70KB.

• Copy the backup file "backup.birdJournal" over the blank new database file "user.birdJournal".

Please be careful not to copy the files the wrong way around.

That's it, you can then launch Bird Journal as normal, and your backup will be restored.