The Atlas portal is nothing more than a subset of eBird designed specifically to support the Atlas. To have your sightings count for the atlas, you must use the atlas portal. You should use the portal for all checklists in NY from now through the end of 2024 when you are following block boundaries and reporting breeding behavior.
Quick Links
- What is the Atlas portal?
- Why it is important to use the Atlas portal
- When to submit data using the Atlas portal
What is the Atlas portal?
The atlas portal is a subset of the eBird platform that is specifically designed to support the NY Breeding Bird Atlas.
The portal is where you go to learn about the project, enter data, and explore results.
It is similar to, but not the same as, the core eBird website and is primarily accessed by going to ebird.org/atlasny (this website!). All observations submitted through the portal will also show up in core eBird and your eBird account, but you’ll notice differences in how your observations are displayed in the portal. You’ll notice during data entry that you can see atlas block boundaries, the Explore features display atlas data by block and breeding code category, and the About and News tabs are specific to the atlas.
We decided early on for the third atlas that we wanted online data entry. With most birders in the state already using eBird, what better way than to have an integrated solution. Having an atlas portal means that you need to go to a slightly different URL in your web browser (which you can go to once and bookmark for future visits) or change one setting in the eBird app on your phone (which you can do once and forget about for five years). Best of all, all data entered through the portal is displayed in near real-time so you can keep tabs on what other atlasers are observing near you or around the state.
Why it is important to use the Atlas portal
For any scientific study, it’s important to collect data in a consistent manner. That’s why we ask people to atlas within block boundaries and become familiar with the breeding code definitions. But not everyone who is out birding in NY over the next five years will be following these standard procedures. That’s why it’s important that everyone enters atlas data into the portal.
By using the portal, observers are essentially confirming three things:
- They are aware that an atlas project is underway
- Bird observations on each checklist are limited to a single atlas block
- Breeding codes are applied correctly
Taking that extra step of entering data through the Atlas portal makes a big difference in data quality.
When to submit data using the Atlas portal
All atlas data must be entered through the “New York Breeding Bird Atlas” portal to count for the project. The portal is available through ebird.org/atlasny (this webpage) on the web, and as an option to choose under “Settings” –> “Portals” on your eBird Mobile app.
Use the portal at all times through the end of 2024 when you are following block boundaries on your checklists, and when you are keeping an eye out for breeding behaviors and reporting them.
If you are like most atlasers, you will be alert and looking for breeding behaviors all the time for the next five years. If that’s the case, start using the portal today! It’s alright if you don’t have breeding codes on your checklist; as long as you were looking for breeding birds, you should enter your checklist through the atlas portal.
Don’t worry if you go birding and enter your checklist in the wrong portal. You can change it later. See the instructions on Changing Portals.