eBird is an on-line database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, it was widened to include New Zealand in 2008,[1] and was widened to cover the whole world in June 2010.[2] eBird has been described as an ambitious example of enlisting amateurs to gather data on biodiversity for use in science.[3]
eBird has been hailed as an example of democratizing science, treating citizens as scientists rather than using them to do science, in allowing the public to access and use their own data and the collective data generated by others.[4]
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Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University and the National Audubon Society, eBird continues to grow and gather rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.
eBird’s goal is to maximize the utility and accessibility of the vast numbers of bird observations made each year by recreational and professional bird watchers. The observations of each participant join those of others in an international network. eBird then shares these observations with a global community of educators, land managers, ornithologists, and conservation biologists.
eBird documents the presence or absence of species, as well as bird abundance through checklist data. A web-interface allows participants to submit their observations or view results via interactive queries into the eBird database. Internet tools maintain personal bird records and enable users to visualize data with interactive maps, graphs, and bar charts. All these features are available in English, Spanish, and French. eBird is a citizen science project.
eBird is a free service. Data are stored in a secure facility and archived daily, and are accessible to anyone via the eBird web site and other applications developed by the global biodiversity information community. For example, eBird data are part of the Avian Knowledge Network (AKN), which integrates observational data on bird populations across the western hemisphere and is a datasource for the digital ornithological reference Birds of North America. In turn, the AKN feeds eBird data to international biodiversity data systems, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. eBird data increase our understanding of the distribution, richness, and uniqueness of the biodiversity of our planet.
In addition to accepting records submitted from user's personal computers, eBird has placed electronic kiosks in prime birding locations, including one in the education center at the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in Florida.[5]
In December 2009, the BirdsEye application for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch was announced, with the goal to provide the mobile devices' owners with access to "real-time access to bird observations submitted to the eBird database at the Cornell Lab." Unfortunately the application does not allow for users to submit observations. [6]