Axios Tampa Bay: New tool identifies birds in your backyard. “After we wrote about migrating warblers back in August, the folks at Loggerhead Instruments in Sarasota sent us a new tool they’ve been perfecting that identifies the birds in your vicinity by their song — like Shazam for birds!”
Utah State University: Poll the Audience: Using Data From Citizen Science to Keep Wild Birds in Flight. “Using the eyes and ears of public volunteers can stretch the reach of science, according to a new analysis from Erica Stuber from the Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center. Stuber and a team of researchers examined the accuracy of information produced by citizen science apps for monitoring bird populations. They compared publicly-produced data with officially tracked numbers from monitoring programs and found that, with some refinement, data from citizen scientists could offer a lot of utility for researchers.”
Lincoln Journal-Star: New website a guide to Nebraska birding . “With the diversity of birds and habitats in the state, it can be overwhelming trying to decide where to go birding. The Nebraska Birding Guide provides descriptions for 80 locations that offer great birding opportunities. Details are provided for each site, including habitat information, birds to observe, trails to explore, amenities, fees and more.”
BirdLife International: The new Search for Lost Birds aims to find some of the rarest birds on Earth . “A new global search effort is calling on researchers, conservationists and the global birdwatching community to help find 10 rare bird species that have been lost to science. The Search for Lost Birds is a collaboration between Re:wild, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and BirdLife International, with data support from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and its eBird platform used by birders around the world.”
Straits Times: New online database details rare bird species in Singapore. “As bird-watching takes flight in Singapore, a group of 17 enthusiasts wants to tap the growing network of birdwatchers here by creating an online platform that allows people to submit their sightings of these rarities. The Singapore Birds Project last month published the first edition of its rare species database, featuring over 150 species. A rare bird is one that has been seen three times or fewer in a year, or belongs to a species that has been recorded more often but can be challenging to identify in the field.”
Audubon: How Birders Are Boosting Their Yard Lists While They Sleep. “Nocturnal flight call (NFC) recording is a different kind of birding. It doesn’t require binoculars or even stepping foot outside. Instead, a microphone placed on a roof or wedged into an apartment window allows birders to eavesdrop on migrating birds overhead. On calm, quiet nights, inexpensive microphones are able to record birds calling hundreds of feet in the sky—far beyond the reach of our hearing—and cache their calls on a recording device for later review and identification.”
StarTribune: Site shows you bird data by ZIP code. “Go to [the site], enter your ZIP code and hit update. You will be given the probability of a species having been reported there during the chosen month. You can click on a species to find out where best to find it during the selected month, a very cool service indeed. This works for any ZIP code in the U.S.”
CBS Pittsburgh: Birdwatching Surges In Popularity During COVID-19 Pandemic. “Birdwatching has surged in popularity over the last year, from simple window feeders to outdoor excursions. The online database eBird reports a 37% increase in users documenting their sightings, and more than 2 million people used the Merlin Bird ID app in 2020.”
Savannah Business Journal: DNR launches updated Georgia Birding & Wildlife Trails website. “The Georgia Birding and Wildlife Trails website introduces each trail site with access tips, a map, a list of amenities, wildlife highlights and a link to eBird hotspots. Wildlife viewing resources include a printable species checklist with seasonality data, as well as information on birding basics, Georgia Audubon chapters, citizen science projects, bird curricula and conservation organizations. A new program logo showcases the great blue heron, a familiar species found throughout the state.”
Penn Live: Backyard bird feeding sales booming in pandemic. “Downloads of online bird-identification apps are up by orders of magnitude. Two of the most popular apps, the National Audubon Society’s Mobile Bird Guide and Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Bird ID, have each been downloaded at more than twice the rate as during the same period last year. Cornell’s bird-logging, citizen-science app, eBird, has seen nearly the same increase in activity this year.”
EurekAlert: Community science birding data does not yet capture global bird trends. “Binoculars in hand, birders around the world contribute every day to a massive database of bird sightings worldwide. But while community science observations of birds can be useful data, it may not be enough to fill the data gaps in developing countries where professional bird surveys are insufficient or absent.”
XinhuaNet: China launches online birdwatching platform. “Chinese research institutions launched a birdwatching platform … for the study and protection of coastal wetlands and waterfowls. The platform is a cutting-edge system of bird identification and data collection, including a smartphone application, an online database, a mini-program for identifying bird species and a visual system for tracking bird migration routes.”
CGTN: Chinese researchers launch app to crowdsource data for bird conservation. “Chinese scientists and researchers are looking to big data and crowdsourcing to shore up bird conservation and interest along China’s coast. The Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Paulson Institute launched the iBirding app in Beijing on Friday, which will allow amateur birdwatchers and professional researchers alike to contribute to science by recording their bird sightings.”
South Bend Tribune: The new Indiana Birding Trail leads you to hottest spots for nature. “The Indiana Audubon Society has created a new website… and printed booklet to help experienced birders plan trips in areas they hadn’t yet explored, with specific trails to try, maps and public amenities.”
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