January begins the New Year. For birders, this may also mark the beginning of a Big Year. A Big Year refers to a bird counting competition to see who can see or hear the largest number of bird species in a calendar year.
One way to track bird species is through the online tool eBird. Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird is a real-time, online checklist that can be used to record and keep track of bird species.
While this tool may be used by individual birders for their own personal bird observations, the data that are entered are pooled together and shared with a global community of scientists, educators, land managers, and other stakeholders involved with bird conservation. The collective data that are amassed become an invaluable resource for conservationists, effectively benefiting both birders and the scientific community at large.
