Is Ebird dying?

[nickinthegarden]

I am hoping to start a discussion of people's use or lack of use of the program Ebird. Ebird came to my attention about 6 years ago when I first started birding. People frequently encouraged me to post my sightings of birds on this website. Over time I found it to be a very useful site to check out if I was trying to locate a certain bird or if I was travelling to a certain area what birds had been seen there in the past. For several years I was hit and miss about submitting my postings, part of that was due to my lack of confidence in what I was seeing. Was that a juvenile Golden-headed Sparrow or was it a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow? I finally just posted what I felt was correct and let those that I was not sure about go.

When I moved out to Abbotsford it was Ebird and to a large degree this website that allowed me to get familiar with the area and find places where birds had been seen. I found myself being more consistent about posting my sightings on Ebird as it was the work of so many others that allowed me to have the successes and enjoyment birding in the valley. I freely give my thanks to those who came before me and helped me learn what a great place to bird the valley is.

Over the last year my concern has been the lack of postings to Ebird, not just in the Valley but through out many parts of BC. Is this going on in all areas? Are people not posting on Ebird and using another medium? It seems like this group is getting less postings, are fewer people using it? Are fewer people interested in birding?  It does not seem to me as I meet people all the time that may not run around with cameras and binoculars but they are aware of the birds they see in the parks.

What are other peoples thoughts? Do you still use Ebird, do you post your sightings or use it to find birding areas? I am familiar with of course this website and all the great information on it, but I am also familiar with Birding in BC, which has really faded away, VANBCbirds might have become something else I am not sure, BC Rare Bird Alert gets some postings around the province but most of it is local to the Greater Vancouver area.
What do you rely upon for birding advice?

[birder1942]

I still use eBird regularly to post most if not all of my birding, both locally and all over BC. BC Bird alert is also a great site. It tells me if anything interesting has shown up in BC but especially in the Lower Mainland. Good birding, John Vooys

[Randy]

Good question but I am confident that eBird use is steadily increasing.

I think what you're noticing is more a local phenomenon - ie some local bidders who were regulars at getting out and posting to eBird are not getting out as much and accordingly not posting.

I can easily think of 3 regular birders and contributors who have contributed significantly less due to children (me and Gord) and relocating (Chris).

I get out for about 1.5 hours per week and just walk around my place. I always do an eBird list and even often do an eBird list when looking out my window for a few minutes during the day on the weekend.

Gord was helping with a study my wife was doing surveying waterfowl weekly at Willband and a few other sites and I would often join him. Sadly however that study has now ended, which has certainly limited birding outings for both of us!

I think it's a relatively small birding community in the Fraser Valley so it only takes a few people to significantly change the number of reports. Things will pick up again once life settles down for some of us and once we convince Chris to move back from Fort St. John

Fortunately we have had other very active member arrive including people like yourself and Paulos!

[johnjoan]

I use Ebird all the time. I have the Ebird app on my cell and try to report twice a month: Willband,Mill Lake & Fishtrap. I was away for a Month and a half in Alberta so there was no reports done on the sites I listed above, but since I arrived back in the Fraser Valley last week I have managed to send in one report to Ebird on Willband. But this time of year there are a lot of things going on. The weather hasn't really helped either (but its not -18 degrees like it was in Alberta LOL). I know personaly that once Christmas/New Years is over I will be out in the field reporting on my Ebird app.

John

[Ben]

When I do go out birding (which isn't very often) I use ebird. I don't think it's dying... it may be that people are opting to not be displayed on the recent visits page (though i doubt that). I think the majority of birders that don't use it either don't know about it or haven't bothered setting up an account.

[paulos]

I think Randy’s right about it being a local fluctuation, and I think Ed’s cross-continent trip this year didn’t help us locally either. I don’t think ebird is going anywhere.

[Chris]

With respect, I believe Ebird is getting more popular. I find there is an increase usage every year.

I have been using it since 2008 and it has been a great resource for me. I use to check my previous data, look at hotpots, ID tips etc. It was fairly bare bones back in 2008 but the new features they add is great.

What I have found 'dying' is the Yahoo sites which is very unfortunate. The interior one is now closed and the Vancouver one rarely gets used. If you compare the numbers from previous years the Alberta one is slowly declining in postings as well. The cause I think is the combination of Ebird and the older technology used by Yahoo. While EBird is a great tool, it can't replace the community building the local sites can give.

[Dave]

I use eBird every time I go birding. It is just that I don’t go birding nearly as often as I used to as I am in a different stage in life right now. 🙃. So, no, I don’t think ebird is dying.
Dave

[nickinthegarden]

Thanks for the great comments, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I hope you did not think I was trashing Ebird, I definitely was not. It is an incredibly useful tool for birding, I just wished more people used it. Too many times I found my name being the only one recently posting from various locations and not just in the valley. Last spring I discovered the Target Species feature and using that and crosschecking with my very large photo catalogue I was able to take my Life List from 125 to 266. As primarily a bird photographer I found myself chasing target birds for my list which is not what I really love about birding. I would rather get great images of Golden-crowned Kinglet that spend hours looking for a local "rarity"
Golden-crowned Kinglet by Nick, on Flickr
But I do understand and appreciate the chase but being part of a mob has much less appeal for me lately.
My main reason for posting this question originally was to get people thinking about Ebird and using it. While we in the valley tend to be a small group I found that even in the Greater Vancouver area, many times birds are not being posted and I am not talking about rarities or endangered species.
If you have more thoughts and comments please share.

[Ben]

I do find that ebird is not used in some areas as much as other record keeping sites. For instance, in the Netherlands it seems to me that waarneming.nl is far more used than ebird.org, and i think the main reason that is the case is probably because they have been using that resource before ebird became popular/widespread. Or maybe it has more features (like different languages and such. (Ebird doesn't have dutch))

[dbirders]

Re the use of Ebird-----
We live in South Surrey but here are a few of our thoughts for what they are worth.

We started using Ebird around 5 years ago when our dormant interest in birding came to life.
It has proven to be a great source for information. It’s also a very convenient way to
keep track of our sightings. If the data we submit helps improve the world’s knowledge of birds through research, so much the better!

We are not travelling as much now so we don’t get to use the hotspot guide and other
features as often as we did.

I realize that E bird would like us to record all of our sightings all of the time and not
just when we see lots or want to add a new bird to our list. And, I confess that I sometimes
forget to submit observations especially if it is ‘the same old stuff’. New Year’s resolution
material!. The more we put into it, the better it will be.

This site is also a gem. I post photos on here now and then to confirm identification.
I also browse through the various sections to see what others are seeing and doing.
Thanks to those who created and maintain it!! Cheers!!!

dbirders.

[expiallyd]

I find ebird very useful for finding species, but I too have posted less often this year. I have been out birding a lot less this year due to work commitments. Most of my sightings lately have been birds seen outside my window while I am working on my computer.

[Gord]

Dec 16, 2018 21:21:50 GMT -8 Randy said:

Good question but I am confident that eBird use is steadily increasing.

I think what you're noticing is more a local phenomenon - ie some local bidders who were regulars at getting out and posting to eBird are not getting out as much and accordingly not posting.

I can easily think of 3 regular birders and contributors who have contributed significantly less due to children (me and Gord) and relocating (Chris).

I get out for about 1.5 hours per week and just walk around my place. I always do an eBird list and even often do an eBird list when looking out my window for a few minutes during the day on the weekend.

Gord was helping with a study my wife was doing surveying waterfowl weekly at Willband and a few other sites and I would often join him. Sadly however that study has now ended, which has certainly limited birding outings for both of us!

I think it's a relatively small birding community in the Fraser Valley so it only takes a few people to significantly change the number of reports. Things will pick up again once life settles down for some of us and once we convince Chris to move back from Fort St. John

Fortunately we have had other very active member arrive including people like yourself and Paulos!

Randy, add a week of me sick and a baby at that cuts in to the birding too! That said, I've done a checklist a day this year even if it's just 10 minutes of what's in our yard. Those checklists are the bread and butter of eBird when it comes to simple data. Eight more days to go and so long as I do not get a day where I can't get out of bed I should make the target. I miss the weekly walks too (and the birding opportunity!)