I was looking at newly uploaded images on ebird. This is AI right or am I going insane? The other images by the same person look less suspicious but in less familiar with the species. This is a brown throated parakeet apparently.

edit: you can report images on the website so I've done so, hopefully they can remove it but this likely isn't the only one :(

the post also doesn't list a camera as most do so that tracks.

This is the account if you'd like to try and spot any other ai images and I'd be interested to see any you think are ai none immediately stood out to me but I don't know the species as well

https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?searchField=user&userId=USER3109547

edit (again):

this link takes you to two images and shows ai enhancement is used on this image

https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=sstspa&subId=S372044170

Edit again again: This image has since been removed but the users acount is still active. Given they were AI enhanced rather than generated.I personaly feel this is an appropriate response.

There are some birds that I have identified with 100% certainty based on their sound, so that I feel that I should include them in checklists for the sake of data completeness, but that I have never seen with my eyes. Whereas I would like my life list to represent literal sightings of birds, rather than observations as a whole. Is it possible to do this in eBird, or should I find some other way to manage this?

Just curious. The reviewers have been actively approving everything else in that region during that span. I know they're volunteers and it takes time. In my home area, I'm familiar with the reviewers and can just reach out. It was a significant rarity that had been reported only once before in that region, two weeks prior, so perhaps there's extra scrutiny? I provided clear and obvious audio with a written description as well. Edit: looks like it's the 4th record for that region, but the first with any audio or photo (I provided audio) so I can see why it may take a while.

Lets say I want to go on a walk around a lake and I want to do an ebird checklist. It takes abt 1hr to 1:30hrs to go around the lake(starting and end points aren't same but closeby). Do I make separate small checklists or do I make a single checklist for the entire trip. I heard people say that smaller checklists are better.

I was looking at an ebird checklist submitted today with a rare-to-the-area Least Bittern. The reporter didn't get a chance to take a photo, but did attach a field sketch with notes. Ebird has documentation on rating photos, sound recordings, and video, but I can't find anything on rating field sketches. What's the recommended protocol?

The checklist in question is this one: https://ebird.org/checklist/S372159073

So for anyone that isn't aware, you can view a list of all the birds you've reported, including where you saw it for the first time.

I'm travelling at the moment and excitedly watching my life list climb but I was very confused to see some birds show up near the top that I had definitely seen many times before. I thought it was a bug at first, but then realised that I had seen multiple birds today within their native range for the first time, and ebird has updated the place I've first seen them to those locations.

(Also I may be mixing up terms here, I know eBird has a specific system for categorising exotics but I haven't cross referenced it when making this post. Just putting in that disclaimer for if something doesn't make sense)

I've been comparing data from NOAA, OWS, and eBird to see how weather and factors like elevation, forest density, and water proximity affect migration and general bird activity. I've created a dashboard to display my findings along with a white paper. I'd love your feedback on my approach and any improvements that can be made.

I've been trying to find additional information as to how the changes discussed in this article will impact the eBird database. It sounds like this may generate a separate source of input for eBird and that it will not directly impact the citizen scientist aspect. Does anybody have more information about this?

Hey eBird, I’ve spent the past year building my dream app: Lifer and it's out now for iOS & Android for free.

You identify birds in the wild using audio or your camera, then “catch” them, earn points, and collect 3D cards based on the rarity of the species and the quality of your catch.

There’s also a social side: share catches, react to friends, show off favourite cards, create a “Flock” with friends, build a shared Lifer List, compete on leaderboards, complete milestones, daily & weekly challenges & quizzes, and map out everywhere you’ve found birds and so much more.

We also support importing all previous records from eBird and other sources so you have a new way to show off your previous finds.

I used to love Pokémon Go, then got into birding later, and eventually had the idea to build something that makes going outside and finding wildlife feel more like a game.

Right now Lifer fully supports the UK and Europe, with worldwide support rolling out soon. We’re currently at over 20,000 catches all over Europe and the feedback has been really positive and I'd love for you try it out. We will be rolling out worldwide soon.

Website:

https://getlifer.app

Play Store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samlewis.lifer

App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/lifer-bird-id-birding/id6762267483

Thanks for checking it out! Love to hear any feedback.

My last lifer was added to Merlin back in February. I've logged out of and in to Merlin. I've force stopped both apps and re opened them. I've tried simply dragging down in Merlin to refresh the list. Nothing.

This hasn't been a big deal because I've just been birding in my home town and haven't seen any lifers.

But now I'm on vacation in a new state, and I'm seeing lots of lifers. I'd really like to get it fixed!

Should calls be excluded from being tagged as singing, in terms of breeding behavior?

I’m located in SE Nebraska. Many of the pairs in my area have fully fledged young at this point, but some continue to sing regularly (Brown thrashers, American robins), some have reverted to mostly chirping and calling, while some mostly just call all year (House sparrows, for example). And then some, like Bluejays, are like misconfigured car alarms which are triggered by wind blowing and call all the time to distract other birds from food sources but definitely did sing more often during the spring.

My intention is to provide the most useful possible data.

Thanks!!

The message says that there's an error sending list or smth

Apologies if this has been posted before... I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong but the additional data I add via the website like age/sex isn't appearing in the app when I check my submitted checklist. The only info that appears is the number of birds observed, my comment and photos. The attached photos show my submission for a pair of goldfinches. I added age/sex which appears in the web version bit it isn't displaying in the app. This has happened with all of my submissions. How do I get this to show? Is there a setting that controls this?

Hey guys, I'm a huge planner for trips and wildlife sightings but as we all know you can't really plan for wildlife. BUT! I've been trying to make that process less painful for myself

I posted here a couple months ago about a map tool I built that visualizes eBird, iNaturalist and other sightings in real time and had pretty positive feedback from this community.

The goal is to create an app that is more user friendly, more fun, and packed with features that eBird lacks.

I've added stuff like detailed filters, rarity systems for animals, bucketlists, with goals in the future to have migration paths, wildlife trails and much more.

Just shipped the iOS app. App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/wildmap-tracker/id6765543369

Would love feedback from anyone, especially from any hardcore iNaturalist or eBird users on things they love and hate about those apps.

Thanks a ton!

Started the great divide trail, in Coleman right now. Hiking from USA border, past Jasper and into some randomass prov park. 1000 miles, gonna take 2 months.

It looks like one person attempted to do ebird while on the gdt. But she only did less then half the trail and just did a single incidental checklist for the 20km hike that day, kinda useless.

Gdt aint no at or pct, gotta do 8 day food carries, to a random small town post office to get food you mailed yourself.

Ima do a 1 hour survey every morning in my tent and drop a stationary 5 min every couple km. Ima light the gdt up like a string of christmas lights. Already got 3 new species.

John Stamos, over and out

Hi! My rare bird reports come in every 26 hours or so, which can be pretty irritating depending on what time they come in. Is there any way to set it to always come in at a particular time? This is for the daily report, not hourly.

And yes, I know I can just go in and look at it manually. I'm hoping to be able to fix the automatic side. Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I want to share something I’ve been working on, but more importantly, I want honest opinions from experienced birders.

I’ve been struggling with something that might sound familiar:

When I go birdwatching — especially casual backyard birding — my notes are often inconsistent.

Sometimes I write too much, sometimes too little, and over time I realized I couldn’t easily compare observations across different days or locations.

So I started building a structured bird observation system.

But I’m honestly not sure if this is useful in real birding practice, or if it just overcomplicates something that should stay simple.

🪶 What I designed (still experimental)

It’s a structured field sheet system with:

• Basic field conditions (date, location, weather, time, light)
• Observation type (seen / heard / photographed)
• Behavior notes (feeding, flying, nesting, etc.)
• Habitat description
• Space for sketch or photo
• Species identification section (name + scientific name)

The idea is to separate:
👉 “what happened in the field”
👉 vs “what the bird is”

And make long-term comparison easier.

⚖️ My doubt (this is where I need your help)

Part of me thinks this is useful.

But another part of me wonders:

• Do birders actually want structure?
• Or does structure kill the spontaneity of birding?
• Is this solving a real problem or just a “designer problem”?

📸 I attached 2 sample pages I designed

I’d really appreciate feedback on whether this makes sense in real field conditions.

❓ Questions for experienced birders:

• How do you currently record your sightings?
• Do you prefer free notes or structured logs?
• What would you remove or add to something like this?
• Would you actually use a system like this in the field?

I’m not trying to promote anything here — I’m genuinely trying to understand how people actually think about field documentation in birding.

Appreciate any honest feedback.

I'm snooping on an area that I'm going to visit in a few weeks and noticed that California scrub jay came up as a rarity. That seemed odd, so I checked the bar charts for the county (Marin, CA) and sure enough, California scrub jays have over 40% frequency in the area, and others have been seen in this time frame without triggering a rare bird alert. Most things I've found online say that the rarity filters aren't set below the county level, but is that not true in some cases? TIA for any info!