January 9, 2020
I ended my 2019 birding year with a big whimper. I’m not sure that I added any new species after September. It’s possible that I did, but my record keeping efforts dwindled as well as my motivation to work for new birds. I thought that I would be able to push myself a bit harder for new birds if I kept a public list and set goals. Not so much. Apparently I’m not too worried about what other people think. In addition, I doubt many people are really that interested in my list. Especially my list in its current state. So as the year crawled to an end, I began searching for better ways to improve my birding. Should I use eBird?
Duh?!
eBird? Why did I wait so long to try it? I have no idea what took me so long to dive into this program. Actually, I kind of do. Sometimes I get stuck in the mindset of “This is how I always do it, why do I need something new?” Or my favorite, “It can’t be that cool, I will just do this myself.” Boy have I been missing out.
So what is eBird?
eBird is a massive website where birders all over the world submit their bird sighting in the form of checklists. The data from the checklists is then used for conservation and education efforts for all birders to use. eBird publishes distribution maps and sighting alerts for your specified area. It also maintains the lists of individual users to include year to date sightings, sightings in your county, and more. You can add photo, video, and sound to your list and these can be shared all over the world. The best part – its all FREE!
Getting Started
Should I use eBird? It sounds complicated and probably too cumbersome to be worthwhile, correct? Or it must take so much time to do, I will never be able to get it done. Wrong. Getting started on eBird has been really easy. I downloaded the app from iTunes and entered some basic information. Before I knew it I was ready to go. Daniel and I went out on New Year’s Eve to pick up some snacks for the midnight celebration. On the way we stopped by a local park, and took a short walk to try out the app. The app picked up our location and recorded our path. As we went along we entered our sightings. It was so easy that I could even do it without his help!
Thats cool, but what else?
When I login to eBird on my ipad or desktop, I have a wealth of information available to me. I can see my own lists, as well as lists from other birders in my area and beyond. There are charts showing species distribution, likely times to expect them in my area, and locations of past sightings anywhere I want to look. In addition, I can view all of the media uploaded by fellow birders, and can be alerted to specific sightings (still figuring that part out). Both the app and the website are very well-designed and easy to navigate. There is a tremendous ‘help’ section loaded with questions and clear answers.
Should I use eBird? Absolutely. Remember, it is free, easy to learn, and provides the opportunity to contribute to citizen science on a topic that you care about. As a bonus, eBird will keep track of your sightings and form your year and life list. I have only been using eBird for a week and realize that I have a lot to learn. I only have a small grasp on some of its best features, and hope to tap into some of those options as I work with the program during the coming months.
Check eBird out here, you won’t be disappointed.
If you are already on eBird want to check in on my profile, it can be found here:
