eBird launches Version 3--It's faster, easier, and free for birders everywhere

In the Fall of 2005 we launched eBird Version 2. Major changes to the site at that time included the addition of the 'My eBird' pages, and a redesigned 'look and feel'. We've come a long way since then! eBird Version 3 incorporates many of your ideas, and we're proud of the improvements we've made over the last few years. Your feedback has enabled us to launch eBird globally, helped us create a better and more streamlined data entry system, helped develop the fun side of birding through tools like the 'eBird Top 100', and helped us build better mapping tools that allow you to access the database in a better and more comprehensive manner. We appreciate all your participation, dedication, and support over the years, and we're happy to announce the official launch of eBird Version 3.

If you haven’t been to eBird (www.ebird.org) in a while, it’s time for another look. Over the past few months we’ve updated eBird so that it’s easier to use and more useful than ever to the birding community. eBird can help you find birds through our “Alerts” or by exploring our newly revised mapping tools and bar charts. Recording and keeping track of your birds is easier than ever with a completely redesigned data entry system and our automated listing pages (My eBird). Most importantly, you’ll become part of a growing community of tens of thousands of birders around the world whose data are now being used in real science and conservation. Best of all – it’s free!

eBird Version 3 includes:

• Global scope—enter and explore observations from anywhere around the world
• Streamlined data entry—getting your data into the system is faster and more customizable than ever
• Improved range maps—explore interactive range maps for any bird in the world
• Alerts system—get customized reports about birds of interest to you in a region
• eBird Top 100—find out how your totals rank among other birders in any region
• Birding + Science connection—by participating, your data become available to the science and conservations communities

The map above shows the records of Rough-legged Hawk submitted to eBird so far in 2011. The red pins indicate observations within the last 30 days. These new interactive maps make it fun to explore the dataset and find out what birds are being seen around you.

We’re proud of the new developments at eBird, and we hope you’ll take the time to take the new tools for a test spin. Even if you don’t enter data, you can still explore the information submitted by other eBirders. Moving forward we’ll continue to develop eBird as the ultimate tool to serve the birding community, while always ensuring that the data we collect for science is of the highest possible quality. Join the flock, become an eBirder!