Help with species as an individual covariate

[flycatcher]

Hi MARK Gurus,

I have avian point counts at several different sites over 5 one-minute intervals coded by individual. My goal is to be able to estimate relative abundance for several species of interest at each site. I have decided that using a Huggins model is the most appropriate.

I am entering my sites as groups, and would like to use species as a covariate, since I believe there are strong species effects on observation. My first question is how do I code for species in my input file? Since I have 20+ species, it would be great to use the 4-digit AOU code, but it seems I have to use a long combination of "zeros and ones", right? I also want to incorporate the effect of observation time, as either before or after 8:00, and possibly individual heterogeneity, so it seems I will be getting very complex when I get to the design matrix.

Second, once I get my data entered, and my models built, how do I retrieve N for the species of interest for each site?

Third, am I even going about this in the right way?

Thanks, appologize if my questions seem "dumb". I really am trying to understand through the guide and examples.

Lara