Cornell University students recently published an analysis of the species gaps on eBird. They found that 421 of the world’s 10,324 bird species have yet to be reported on eBird. That means that approximately 96% of the world’s bird species are already represented in the eBird database, less than four years after the worldwide launch in 2010. How many of those 421 species can be found by eBirders in Central America? The answer—only three!
If you wish to find a new species for eBird in Central America, your best bet is to visit the Cerro Tacarcuna massif in eastern Panama, on the border with Colombia. There you could find a Tacarcuna Wood-Quail (Odontophorus dialeucos) or a Tacarcuna Tapaculo (Scytalopus panamensis). Both species occur only in far eastern Panama and adjacent areas of Colombia, and neither is yet reported on eBird (at least, not as of this writing on 1 August 2014). Unfortunately, local birders recently considered the area off-limits, due to warnings from border authorities of unsafe conditions.
The third species is actually unique to Central America. Guatemala to be exact. It is the Atitlán Grebe (Podilymbus gigas), that is now considered extinct, and apparently was last reported in 1986, according to the report’s authors. Do any eBirders have field notes from Lake Atitlán prior to the demise of the Atitlán Grebe, and were lucky enough to record this species? eBird would love to receive your historical data into the data base. That also goes for people with data from eastern Panama, who have observed the Tacarcuna Wood-Quail or the Tacarcuna Tapaculo.
If you report one of these species, be prepared to provide a description or documentation, as the automatic filters will catch these as rare birds. If you wish to search for some of the other 418 species missing from eBird, consider visiting remote areas of Africa, South America, Australasia or the South Pacific. Virtually all of the missing species are extremely rare, endangered, or extinct. Of course, new species are still described every year from South America and other remote corners of the globe. It may even still be possible to find a new bird species for science in Central America.