eBird has revolutionized the collection and maintenance of data on numbers and occurrence of birds. Probably most of us who use it – over 795,000 accounts that have submitted over 69 million complete checklists – would never want to go back to keeping paper checklists that nobody else ever sees.
People new to eBird are encouraged to take the free online course, eBird Essentials, to learn how to get the most from the program and the app, including details about recording distance traveled (record unique distance only: if you walk from one end of a trail to the other, and then back, you record only the distance from A to B and do not add in the distance from B back to A – probably the most common mistake made by eBirders). You start the checklist when you start birding, and stop the list when you stop (seems elementary, but some users are very sloppy in this regard). You keep your traveling checklists to under 5 miles, and try to keep your time relatively short, for a finer-grained picture of what birds are there and when.
When you see a rarity, documentation is key. This can include a detailed write-up of the bird’s appearance, behavior, and vocalizations; ideally you can get photographs and/or a recording if you have a camera and if the bird is vocalizing. What you don’t want to do is include a description of where the bird is as your only “documentation” of a rarity. This is unhelpful, especially if you are the only one to see the bird and it disappears before anyone else can follow up, and it means that your local (volunteer!) reviewer will have to take the time to contact you to see if you have any other details. If it’s a mega-rarity, the lack of documentation may lead to your observation not being confirmed. It will still be on your list, because nobody but you can delete a species from your list, but your observation will not show up in any searches for that species in eBird, nor on any list of species seen in that region.
When you do find a rarity, the impulse is to share the information widely. Indeed, the ABA Code of Birding Ethics recommends this, unless doing so will bring harm to the birds, or if there are other ethical considerations (e.g., the bird is on private property). I believe this to be good practice, but if it is breeding season and there is a chance the bird may be attempting to nest, you need to be judicious about sharing the location, and there is NEVER a reason to give specifics about nest location. In addition, if the location is in an area that cannot tolerate high traffic, such as some residential neighborhoods, or agricultural lands where birders parking along roads may impede farm equipment, we really need to use common sense. It only takes one bad actor to ruin the experience for everyone, and this may result in access being denied to all birders, not just the one who misbehaves.
It is hugely important to remember that when you submit an eBird list with a rarity, this is going to trigger an email with a Rare Bird Alert for your county and for the state. Everyone who has signed up for these alerts for your county will receive that email. They may also have subscribed to “Needs Alerts” – if the subscriber has not seen that species this year, they will get a Needs Alert email for that bird. Some people have signed up for Rare Bird Alerts for the entire state. So if your bird is a really “good” one, posting it to eBird may bring a large number of people to this location. It has actually happened that somebody published the street address of a house hosting a rarity without the homeowner’s permission, and this can lead to serious problems, privacy violation and ill will. Think before you post.
My last point is about respecting the privacy of other birders. A lot of people have taken up birding in the last couple of years, as the pandemic has kept people out of the workplace, and with the greater flexibility in schedules, more people have taken to the outdoors. This is potentially very good for birds, as the more people there are who love them and have found the immense benefits of watching them for both physical and mental health, the more people will be interested in their welfare and conservation. But all those people also put pressure on our open spaces and it is increasingly challenging to find places to enjoy birds in solitude. A lot of us who love birding also love to be alone. I think we all need to respect that.
