Outdoors: This real-time online tool is for the birds

Just for a moment, I felt like the Wizard of Mt. Hoo.

A neighbor had casually asked me, “when can we expect the yellow-rumped warblers to be making their fall arrival in Southern California?”

With a confident tone, I said, “well, the first one was spotted on Mount Laguna on Aug. 8, but the main flock is not far behind, just up north in Big Bear and the Angeles National Forest.”

He looked at me with a mix of astonishment and disbelief.

I’m used to that. My three sons never believed half the things I told them, either.

But this was accurate and timely information that I had just gleaned from an amazing online resource that every wildbird lover should have.

It’s called eBird and this free program, available at ebird.org is a robust product managed by the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology, located on the edge of Sapsucker Woods in Ithaca, N.Y.

The success of eBird, however, is due to the collaborative efforts of hundreds of partner organizations and millions of citizen science contributors.

Readers may recall I have often mentioned eBird as a real-time resource to follow bird migrations and rare bird sightings as well as to keep records of your personal wildbird list.

But it’s far more than that, offering both the amateur and the professional birding community an unparalleled data collection that grows daily, thanks to the contributions of enthusiasts who have provided billions of observations since eBird’s creation in 2002.

Some of those observations come from remote and exotic places in the world, but most are from backyard birders who simply track the feathered visitors right outside their windows.

Last week, I had the opportunity to chat with Jenna Curtis, a member of the eBird staff who focuses on the intersection of science, conservation and public engagement. Her title is eBird Community Lead.

“My main goal is to help users so that eBird is a more effective platform,” Curtis said.

Those users’ range for the highest level of environmental scientists, to participants in high school science projects, or this happy birder on Mt. Hoo and millions like me.

Each of those sources provide a collective picture of bird data in what Curtis called, “the largest biodiversity project in the world.”

It’s citizen science on steroids.

And it has grown rapidly.

It took 19 years for 1 billion observations to be recorded. The next 1 billion were recorded in just four years, and Curtis predicts eBird will receive well over 3 billion observations by the end of this decade.

Curtis also works with some of the 2,000 volunteer bird experts who help validate observations submitted by participants.

Here’s how eBird works.

The first step is to create a free eBird account.

Account holders also have access to a free, online course called eBird Essentials that teaches birding skills and the basics of using eBird tools.

After creating an account, eBirders can log on at any time to submit a checklist that records location, time, date and a list of birds observed. Photos and sound recordings can also be uploaded when submitting the list.

Once reviewed and approved by the volunteer experts, your report becomes part of the massive eBird database that is not only valuable to backyard birders, but also for avian scientists monitoring bird populations, migrations and watching for red flags such as habitat changes, population declines or environmental threats.

“This is only possible through the millions of eBirders sharing experiences,” Curtis said. “I can’t stress enough how valuable this information is.”

Managing this amount of data is extremely difficult and requires massive amounts of computing power, but the information is becoming more accurate every day as the number of sightings increase.

Additionally, every checklist uploaded is kept so you have an ongoing record of your birding activity.

Another important feature offers members the ability to explore activity at birding hotspots around the world or in your neighborhood, search species by photos and sounds, and receive daily email alerts of bird sightings in geographic areas you define.

This is a great way to know about seasonal or rare birds as other eBirders report on sightings in your area of interest.

With the hundreds of thousands of checklists that are submitted and reviewed, the result is what Curtis calls a “high-resolution, extremely accurate data model.”

That’s why I was able to share with a neighbor information about when the first migrating yellow-rumped warbler of fall was recorded in San Diego County.

At a higher level, the data accumulated by eBird has been used by researchers to better understand bird distribution, gain deeper understanding of migration patterns, model population trends and predict bird populations over time.

This information has been critical in developing effective conservation and habitat management plans and broader conservation strategies.

The effectiveness of eBird also demonstrates how much wild birds are loved.

Curtis is just one of the millions who love wild birds, and she has recorded over 7,700 sightings on her checklists.

“What’s not to love? They are fun to watch; their behavior is amazing and no matter where you are in the world there are birds. That’s something very special and I want to share that with others,” Curtis said.

Upcoming events

The Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park are inviting the public to a free Harvest Festival from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Nov. 1 at the park.

Located on the western end of Palomar Mountain in San Diego’s North County, the 1,862-acre park is an alpine paradise, offering hiking trails, fishing, campgrounds and a scenic overlook from an active fire lookout tower.

This year’s festival is an expansion of the annual Apple Festival of past years, offering insights into the early history of the area, the pioneers who planted apple orchards, games, square dancing, food, music and crafts.

For additional information, visit friendsofpalomarsp.org.

The 20th annual Anza-Borrego Desert Photo Contest opens for submission of images from Nov. 1 to Dec. 10. The contest is open to photographers of all ages.

Categories include People Enjoying the Park; Animals, Plants, Landscapes and Nightscapes of Anza-Borrego, and a new youth category for high school age and younger.

For contest details, visit theabf.org/photocontest.

Cowan is a freelance columnist. Email ernie@packtrain.com or visit erniecowan.substack.com.