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Birding News and Features

Patterns from eBird – Cedar Waxwing

March 13, 2010

The Cedar Waxwing is an abundant and easily recognized bird across much of North America, yet its migration patterns remain poorly understood. This is because across much of the country Cedar Waxwings are present year-round, making influxes of migrants hard to discern. eBird now provides a unique information resource for identifying patterns of species occurrence, since it draws upon a network of tens of thousands of contributors who collect observations throughout the year. Our "Patterns from eBird" feature will highlight and discuss some of the interesting and enlightening natural patterns that can be uncovered using eBird's "View and Explore Data" tools.

New Feature: eBird State Needs Alert!

February 26, 2010

We've just launched a new tool that will help birders find new birds at the state level--the eBird State Needs Alert. By subscribing to this alert, you'll get an email alert every day highlighting the birds that have been reported in a state that you haven't seen before. This tool compares all the birds you've reported in a state with the new reports coming in, and then sends you a list of the reports for species that you have not yet personally reported to eBird. This tool will make it easier for you to keep abreast of recent records of birds you might want to see in a given state that might not necessarily be rare enough to make it to the eBird Notable Birds Google Gadget.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology Hosting Young Birders Event

February 25, 2010

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is excited to once again host The Cornell Lab Young Birders Event, which will be held August 12 - 15 , 2010 in Ithaca, New York. The Young Birders Event aims to bring together teenagers with a passion for birds who are interested in pursing a career with birds. The young birders will meet people who have successful careers that involve birds in a variety of ways from ornithological researchers to tour leaders, to audio specialists and computer scientists. High school aged young birders are invited to fill out our application form and return it for review by April 15th 2010. Ten young birders will be selected and notified in late April. Please share this information with any young birders you know!

Guidelines for Reporting Sensitive Species

February 09, 2010

As birders, we all love to see owls--they are beautiful, fascinating, and generally hard to come by. An encounter with an owl can be among the most memorable of birding experiences. In many places, however, roosting owls are vulnerable to disturbance, particularly in areas where owls are scarce and people are abundant! When owls are flushed from their secretive roosting spots they are frequently ‘mobbed’ by crows and jays, creating lots of commotion in the process, and drawing attention to species that rely on their cryptic plumage to help hide them from potential predators. If mobbing occurs frequently, the owls may abandon the roosting site. In the worst-case scenario, a larger predator like a Red-tailed Hawk or Great Horned Owl may be alerted to the presence of the smaller owls, and prey upon them. We use owls as an example of what might be considered a ‘sensitive species’, but these can change locally and regionally. So what steps should we take to avoid disturbing owls and sensitive species in general? And how does that relate to reporting these birds to eBird?

Subscribe to eBird Alerts!

January 29, 2010

We are very excited to introduce a new feature: eBird Alerts! By going to the eBird Alerts page from "View and Explore Data" you can view a list of all the national-level rarities recently reported in North America and Canada. These are defined by the ABA Codes, which we explain below. You have the option to subscribe hourly (!), daily, or just to visit this page and click to see the results from the past seven days. In the near future, we hope to add similar alerts for birds you "need" (i.e., birds not already on your eBird list) for a given state or province. So please, sign up for our ABA Alerts to keep up on what rarities--like Ivory Gulls--are being reported around the country!