Monday, May 23, 2011

eBird gets better and better

I hope you are already using eBird for all of your bird sightings. Now the site is getting even easier to use and better for the birds. You can help their team beta test a new data entry system. If you visit this page you can read all about it: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/new-ebird-data-entry

This system makes entering your sightings a faster process as you now have one column to go down instead of groups of species. You can also add comments, sex, age, and other information for each species right as you go instead of doing it on another page. Users can change what they want to see or not - like subspecies - quite easily. The task of adding species to a checklist is much more refined, and so is confirming a rare bird. There are a lot of positive modifications.

However, the best change in my eyes is...breeding bird codes! You can now enter this data whenever, from wherever, and however you like. No longer will we have to simply write in the comments about finding a nest, a male singing on territory, or fledgling birds. You can record sorely needed information about critically important breeding species or the American Robin nest in your backyard. This is going to be a fantastic tool for conservation. Please try eBird today if you have not before and use it as much as possible. Things are only going to get better every year.


The direct link to the new submission page is here, but be aware sightings go directly to the eBird database (this is not a test!) and that it works best in browsers that are not Internet Explorer: http://demo.ebird.org/ebird/submit.

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