Birding News and Features

New BirdLog app finally provides easy mobile data entry!

We are thrilled to report the release of the new BirdsEye BirdLog app for the iPhone and Android smartphones (coming soon for the iPad), which for the first time allows quick-and-easy data entry directly from the field. Almost since the inception of eBird, we have longed for the ability to easily record and submit bird observations in a single step while birding in the field. BirdLog promises to transform eBirding, replacing the field notebook with an integrated, simple process for tallying birds and submitting directly to the eBird database. The use of the phone's GPS makes it simple to provide precise locations, and other automated checks ensure continuing high data quality standards and actually make it easier to submit highly accurate data to eBird. Species can be entered by scrolling a list, typing the bird name, or using the four-letter code and can be tallied as you go for more accurate counting. This is a transformative moment for eBird since BirdLog makes recording eBird checklists easier and more accurate, all at the same time.

Fill in the gaps--bird the road less traveled this January!

eBirders often email us and ask where they should go birding to make the biggest impact in regions with little data. It's perhaps little surprise that eBird checklist submissions are most dense in areas with large human populations, so getting away from those areas is a good first step for filling in the data gaps in eBird. But seeing these gaps can be really astonishing, and with the help of map wizard Paul Hurtado, we've come up with a neat way to visualize eBird data density at the county level. These maps are a visualization of the total number of eBird checklists submitted in each US county in the month of January across all years. Pull up your state map and see how your home county is faring. And better yet, find a county that's white, pink, or yellow, and go do as many eBird checklists as you can there this January!

eBirder of the Month: Zachary DeBruine

eBird paper published in PLoS Biology

Thanks eBirders! You've done it again. Your active participation in eBird allowed us to publish a paper that highlights how eBird engages the birding community in science and conservation in one of the leading scientific journals in the world, PLoS Biology. We hope that this publication shows the ways that you (the eBird community) shape our thinking about eBird, and also demonstrates how your observations are being used by scientists and the conservation community. Because PLoS Biology is an open access journal, we encourage you to share this link and content with anyone interested in reading, reproducing, or distributing it. Feel free to translate it, post it to listservs, or put it to use in any other way. We hope you view the article here. 

eBird Rare Bird Alerts are here!

After releasing Year Alerts last week, we are happy to announce another exciting Alert option -- the eBird Rare Bird Alert. This alert basically takes the eBird Notable Birds Google Gadget and moves it into an eBird Alert environment, meaning that you can now receive hourly or daily email summaries, or just go view rare birds on the web at our eBird alerts page. One key update is the addition of counties to the available alert regions, meaning you can customize your rare bird alert experience more than ever. The new Rare Bird Alert notifies you about any unusual bird that has been reported in your region of interest, and provides a link to the location and to the checklist so you can get more information about the sighting, and make the critical call as to whether it's worth calling in sick to work!