Videos

On this page you will find some short form training videos and longer deep dives into COASST topics. If you’d like to join COASST beached bird surveys, please visit the Join Our Team page to read more about our program.

Training Videos

From Head to Toe

Want to brush up on your beached bird measurement skills? Here’s a video providing an overview of the bill, wing chord, and tarsus measurements.

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Entering Data Into the Database

Entering your own data? Check out this walkthrough of entering a survey into the COASST database.

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Protocol Deep Dives

Intactness

In this webinar we discuss the Body Parts section of the data sheet. What makes a bird intact, and can you count a body part that isn’t measurable? Plus measurement demonstrations for bird wings and feet!

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Foot Key ID and Tags Demo

In this session we cover the trickiest parts of the foot key, including fourth toe shapes and provide a demo on using the tagging system!

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Wreck Protocol

In this video we discuss streamlined data collection protocols for beached birders in seasonal wreck events and mass mortality wreck events. Photos are king!

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Plumage Identification

In this video we dive into the advanced identification topics of plumage variation: male vs female, adult vs immature, and breeding vs non-breeding birds.

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Data entry for Beached Birders

In this video we discuss tips and tricks for entering your data online, viewing changes as birds are verified, and exploring data on the COASST website. Please note that you can now leave the section asking for Zone Widths blank! This was a change that occurred in 2025, but the video has not been updated.

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Marine mammal reporting

In this video we discuss the reporting of marine mammals, on and off COASST beached bird surveys. Our participants can find stranding network numbers at this address: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/report and more identification resources at this address: https://mmapl.ucsc.edu/resources.

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