The app eBird (ebird.org/home) is the best innovation in birding since binoculars.

The first bins were built in 1608 by Hans Lippershey, a Dutch spectacle maker. Apparently, they weren’t very good. Quantum leap forward to 2002 when the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO) and the National Audubon Society developed eBird under the leadership of Dr. John W. Fitzpatrick, director of the CLO at the time. eBird was very good from the get-go and has been steadily improved since then.

eBird has many components, a few of which I’ll get to shortly. But I want to start with the eBirder of the Month Challenge. This is a different challenge for birders every month. Those who meet the challenge criteria are entered into a drawing. A winner is then randomly selected, and they receive a pair of new Zeiss SFL 8×40 binoculars. These sell for $1,799.99, so it’s a serious prize!

I have played countless times over the years, but I’ve never won. However, we did get a local winner in the December 2024 challenge. Ken Miracle (see photo), a well-known bird photographer, got lucky!

The challenge that month was to submit at least 50 photographs or audio recordings, along with your bird checklists. Those who know Ken know he is rarely seen without one of his cameras and a lens big enough to study Pluto from his backyard.

I should be a little jealous of Ken, but I’m not. I’m happy the prize went to a good guy. Plus, I had encouraged Ken to participate in the challenge, so it’s more fun this way. And there’s always next month, and the one after that, and the one after that …

Some other past challenges have been, 1) submit at least one eBird checklist every day of the month, 2) submit 20 “shared” checklists during the month (you have to go birding with at least one other person to have a shared list), 3) submit at least 5 checklists on October Big Day (Oct. 12, 2024), 4) submit 20 or more checklists containing at least one species with observation comments, and 5) submit at least 20 checklists from one location.

Although I mention eBird often, I haven’t written about it for some time. So, let’s do a little eBird 101. The way most birders interact with eBird from day to day is simply by using the app on their phones to tally birds. It’s the easiest way to track what species, and how many of each, you see while you’re birding.

The app knows where you are if you have “location” data turned on, it knows the date, and it will keep track of how long you are birding. If you have “Record track” turned on, it will also map where you walk and measure how far it was. If you don’t trust this new world, you might not want eBird to watch what you’re doing. I know one person who puts tape over the phone’s camera lens because … you know, Big Brother. I’m not worried myself.

One other piece of information you enter is how many people were birding. I’m usually by myself, but sometimes I have 10-20 or more other people with me. eBird uses this information — how many people, how long and how far — to standardize the bird counts. More time, more distance and more people, especially, will result in more birds being seen. Those variables have to be accounted for so different checklists can be compared to each other.

One thing you encounter from time to time while compiling a checklist is an eBird “flag.” A flag simply means you have entered a species or a count of a species or a date of an observation outside what’s expected. Fun! You then have to back up your claim. For unexpected species, a photograph — even a poor one — will quickly secure your position. Lacking that, a good description might convince the eBird reviewers.

For unusual counts of birds, you typically can’t get a suitable photograph. I enter a text description in those cases. For example, I often get flagged for reporting too many willow flycatchers at Eagle Island State Park in June. So, I will write something like, “seven singing birds well separated from each other.”

For reports without photos, the eBird experts behind the scenes will make a judgement about how convincing your details are. Sometimes I get an email from a reviewer asking for more information. These are very tactful and begin with something like, “We really appreciate your being a part of eBird. You are a wonderful human being. You are a credit to your community, and we love you. But …”

If the reviewers are not convinced by the information you provide, they will let you keep the data in your personal records but won’t add it to the master database. That mother ship now holds over 1.6 billion bird observations from 930,000 eBirders from every country in the world. So, if they don’t believe your duck report, it doesn’t really matter in the big picture. Put it in your scrapbook and show your grandkids.

Because all the flags are the result of algorithms (rule sets), they can be adjusted as more data come in. But try to imagine how many of these rule sets there are. There are now well over 11,000 species recognized on Earth. Each one has a geographic range and seasons of occurrence in each place that can be defined. All are susceptible to being adjusted.

The eBird feature I use second most is “Species Maps” under the “Explore” tab. There, you can enter a species name and a date range, and it will show you every place on the planet where the species has been reported. For example, I’ve been hearing about an influx of snowy owls in the northern U.S. this winter. So, I just typed in snowy owl and set the date range for December-January, 2024-2025. Those purple rectangles show you where this owl has been seen over the specified time period.

You can then zoom in until the purple rectangles turn into little teardrops. Clicking on the teardrop will show you who saw the owl, any other species reported, exactly where, and other information like notes or photos. The nearest snowy owl for us appears to be one seen in Sequim, Washington, on Dec. 3, 2024. Or perhaps you’d rather drive to Havre, Montana, where one was seen on Dec. 12, 2024. Driving to Havre in winter sounds like fun to me!

Smarter yet, book a flight to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where many snowy owls have been seen around the region. Plus, good beer, cheese curds and Packer gear!

Back to Ken Miracle. Ken is certainly lucky, but he also put in the work to get 50 photos into the competition. But that’s just last December. If you see Ken, ask him how many bird photos he’s uploaded to eBird in his lifetime. And, if you dare, ask him how many bird photos he’s taken … ever.

As renowned golfer Gary Player said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”