Listing regions in eBird

ABA Area

The area encompassed by the 49 continental United States, Canada, the French islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon (France). Greenland, Bermuda and Hawaii are NOT included.

AOU Area

United States, Canada, St. Pierre et Miquelon (France), Mexico, and the regions of Central America and the Caribbean as defined below. The Hawaiian Islands, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands of Midway and Johnston Atoll and Swan Island (Honduras) are included, along with as Bermuda, Clipperton Island (France). Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are not included.

North America

ABA Area, Greenland, Mexico, the West Indies and Central America regions as defined below. Not included are distant islands, including the Hawaiian Islands and U.S. Minor Outlying Islands of Midway and Johnston Atoll, Bermuda, and Clipperton Island (France).

Central America

Central America includes the seven countries between Mexico and Colombia: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Swan Island (Honduras) and Cocos Island (Costa Rica) are included.

West Indies

This includes the Bahama Islands, the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles south and east to Barbados and Grenada, Providencia (Colombia) and San Andrés Islands (Colombia). It does not include Swan Island (Honduras) or islands that are part of the South American listing region such as Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.

South America

As defined by the ABA, this includes the entire continent along with Fernando de Noronha (Brazil), Trinidad and Tobago, Bonaire and Curacao (Netherlands Antilles), and Aruba. Isla de Malpelo (Colombia), the Galapagos Islands, and the Falkland Islands or Malvinas are not included.

Western Hemisphere

This includes North and South America as defined above, as well as islands in the hemisphere such as the Hawaiian Islands and U.S. Minor Outlying islands of Midway and Johnston Atoll, Clipperton Island (France), Bermuda, Isla de Malpelo (Colombia), the Galapagos Islands, the Falkland Islands or Malvinas.

Eastern Hemisphere

This includes Eurasia, Africa, and Australasia as defined below, as well as the ocean regions with the exceptions of the island groups specifically defined above as in the Western Hemisphere.

Africa

All of Africa, including the following: Cape Verde and Canary Islands, Sao Tome and Annabon in the Gulf of Guinea, and Socotra (Yemen) in the Arabian Sea; all of Egypt except the Egyptian provinces of Port Said, North Sinai, and South Sinai. Note that this northeast border is geopolitical and does not exactly follow the Suez Canal (spanned by Ismailia and Suez governates, which are included in Africa) outlined by the ABA and other sources such as Birds of the Western Palearctic.

Europe

All of Europe including islands of Iceland, the Faroes, Shetlands, Hebrides, Novaya Zemlya, Jersey, Malta, and Crete. Also included are: Turkish provinces west of the Bosporus and north of the Sea of Marmara, including Istabul (which spans the Bosporus) and Canakkale (which spans the Dardanelles); the Kazakstan provinces of West Kazakstan and Atyrau; and Russian provinces roughly west of the Ural Mountains as defined here. Madeira and the Azores are included, but the Canary Islands are not. Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan are not included. Note that this definition of Europe is geopolitical and does not exactly follow the borders (Bosporus, Caspian Sea, Ural River, and Ural Mountains) outlined by the ABA and other sources such as Birds of the Western Palearctic.

Asia

All of Asia, including the following: the Egyptian governates of Port Said, North Sinai, and South Sinai; all of Turkey except the Turkish provinces west of the Bosporus and north of the Sea of Marmara, including Istabul (which spans the Bosporus) and Canakkale (which spans the Dardanelles); all of Kazakstan except the provinces of West Kazakstan and Atyrau; Russian provinces roughly east of the Ural Mountains as defined here; all Indonesia except Papua (included in Australasia). Note that this definition of Asia is geopolitical and does not exactly follow the borders (Suez Canal, Bosporus, Caspian Sea, Ural River, Ural Mountains, and specific island groups in Indonesia) outlined by the ABA and other sources such as Birds of the Western Palearctic.

Eurasia

Europe and Asia as defined above. A slight difference from the ABA definition is that we include the Faroes within Eurasia.

Western Palearctic

The ABA follows the definition outlined by Cramp and Simmons in the Birds of the Western Palearctic (BWP). It includes all of Europe as defined above,  as well as the Canary Islands, and the following countries: Cape Verde, Western Sahara, Morocco, Tunisia, *Algeria, *Libya, Egypt, Palestinian Territory, Israel, Jordon, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey. In addition, we use states or provinces within the following countries to best approximate the boundaries of the Western Palearctic: **Mauritania, *Mali, *Niger, *Chad, and *Saudi Arabia. Differences with the BWP definition are marked with an asterisk and those that are more restrictive regions are marked with a double asterisk; in all cases, the discrepancy involves following geopolitical boundaries rather than latitude and longitude.

Australasia

Australia and Papua-New Guinea, including the Indonesian states of Papua and the Maluku Islands.

South Polar

Antarctica, Bouvet Island, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, and Heard Island and McDonald Islands.

Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean and its islands, including New Zealand but excluding those included within Australasia, those included within North America, and those included within South America.

Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean and its islands, including Madagascar, the Comoros and Seychelles Islands, and the Malvinas, among others. The Lakshadweep islands off India are included within Asia.

Atlantic/Arctic Oceans

Atlantic Ocean waters beyond the 200 mile limit and the following independent countries or islands: Bermuda, the Falklands (Malvinas), and Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan de Cunha.

*NOTE: The below file is a complete list of the countries and states/provinces that are available in eBird. the codes in this file can be used in the ebird bulk upload to import data.