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eBird

Discover a new world of birding

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eBird is a powerful platform designed for birdwatchers and researchers worldwide.

Managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird allows users to record bird sightings, share their data with the global birding community, and contribute to science and conservation. With millions of bird sightings contributed annually, eBird is one of the largest biodiversity-related science projects globally. The platform offers tools for bird identification, list management, and exploring bird distribution and trends, making it an indispensable resource for both casual birders and ornithologists.

What is eBird?

eBird is a global birdwatching platform that gathers bird sightings from enthusiasts around the world to create a vast database of bird distribution, abundance, and trends. By providing tools that help users track their bird lists, explore sightings, and share their observations, eBird not only makes birdwatching more engaging but also contributes valuable data to advance science and conservation.

Key Features of eBird

  • Find More Birds: Explore birds and birding hotspots near you and anywhere in the world, all based on the latest sightings.
  • Share Your Sightings: Contribute your observations to the world’s largest birding community.
  • Track Your Lists: Manage your bird lists, photos, and sounds—all archived for free.
  • Contribute to Science and Conservation: Your bird sightings support conservation decisions, research projects, and scientific studies worldwide.
  • Learn Birding Skills: Access courses, guides, and tools to enhance your birding knowledge and skills.


A diagram of ebird

Details on Key eBird Features

Find More Birds

eBird provides a comprehensive toolset for bird enthusiasts to explore birds and hotspots around the world. Using real-time data from millions of sightings, users can discover the best places for birding nearby or across the globe. This feature allows birdwatchers to maximize their chances of finding specific bird species by identifying hotspots where recent sightings have occurred.


Share Your Sightings

By joining eBird, users become part of a global birding community that actively contributes to citizen science. Every sighting submitted to eBird adds to a growing database that is used by researchers, conservationists, and bird enthusiasts to understand bird distribution and trends. Whether you're a beginner or an expert birder, every sighting counts and helps build a more comprehensive picture of global bird populations.


Track Your Lists

eBird allows users to manage their birding lists effortlessly. The platform automatically tallies your life lists and regional lists, as well as archives photos and audio recordings of bird calls. The free mobile app enables offline data collection anywhere in the world, making it easy to log sightings in real-time and track your birdwatching progress.


Contribute to Science and Conservation

Data collected through eBird is invaluable for advancing bird conservation and science. The information gathered from bird sightings has been used in hundreds of peer-reviewed papers, conservation decisions, and educational projects. By sharing your sightings on eBird, you directly support research and conservation initiatives worldwide.


Learn Birding Skills

eBird offers resources and tools to help users improve their birdwatching skills. From the eBird Essentials course that provides foundational birding knowledge to the Merlin Bird ID app for identifying bird species, eBird equips users with the necessary tools to become proficient birdwatchers. Additionally, users can create custom quizzes to test their bird identification skills or explore interactive range maps for a deeper understanding of bird distribution.

Relative abundance of Western Sandpiper in Southern California and Northern Mexico.

About eBird

eBird began in 2002 with a simple idea: that every birdwatcher has valuable knowledge to contribute. Developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird started as a project to archive bird checklists and make them freely accessible for science and conservation. Today, eBird is one of the largest biodiversity-related science projects in the world, with over 100 million bird sightings contributed annually by birders from around the globe.


eBird is a collaborative effort involving hundreds of partner organizations, regional experts, and hundreds of thousands of users. The data collected through eBird document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends within a scientific framework. The platform offers a network of local, national, and international partners, allowing for regional data entry portals, outreach, engagement, and localized impact.


Data quality is a critical focus for eBird. The platform uses checklist filters developed by bird distribution experts and a review system to ensure the accuracy of unusual sightings. eBird data are securely stored, archived daily, and freely accessible for anyone to use in research, education, and conservation efforts worldwide.


eBird continues to grow as a dynamic platform that empowers bird enthusiasts to connect, learn, and contribute to the protection and understanding of birdlife across the planet.


All information, images and videos sourced from https://ebird.org/home


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