The Tyranny of eBird
eBird is an app birders use to keep track of the birds they see in a birding session. But it’s so much more than that. eBird is managed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. What birders do is keep track of their birds on the eBird app and then send the trip list to eBird. eBird then compiles all the stats to tell birders what bird species have been seen, who has seen them, how many species have been seen by which birders over what timeframe. Timeframes range from daily to monthly to annually to lifetime. And then for each birding hotspot, region, state, country and the world eBird ranks birders for number of checklists and number of species. This is where the tyranny of eBird comes in.
A Google AI Overview for the phrase “tyranny of eBird” describes several meanings. I’ve quoted each below and added my observations.
“Here are the primary meanings behind this phrase:
Gamification of Birding: The pressure to constantly update, curate, and "perfect" life lists, year lists, and county lists, transforming a leisure activity into a competitive, data-driven task.”
This is one of the oddest parts of eBird. Birders will look at where they stand for life and year and county and hotspot and so many other variations and they will go to extreme measures to go up the rankings. (Can you say wanting 7000 lifers by my 70th birthday?)
“Algorithmic Limitations: The reliance on eBird filters can make it difficult to report rare, unexpected, or "out of bounds" birds. If a bird is not considered typical for a time/place by the algorithm, it is flagged, which some feel dictates what they should be seeing.”
eBird has a partner app called Merlin. It’s fabulous for helping to identify the calls and songs of birds. It uses algorithms to compare to sounds Merlin hears on your phone. It then suggests possible bird matches. At times Merlin can identify a bird and then the birder will find the bird. If the birder is inexperienced the whole experience can be very intimidating.
And yes, at times if Merlin and eBird say that the bird is infrequent or rare the birder will not report the bird and the whole birding community is lesser for it. (By the way, this can happen even to the most experienced birders.) And then there are times when Merlin “hears” a bird and you know that can’t possibly be right. That’s Merlin being Merlin. It is not infallible.
“Reviewer Discretion: The reliance on regional, volunteer reviewers to validate sightings can sometimes lead to feelings of frustration, especially if valid, hard-to-document sightings are questioned or rejected.”
eBird reviewers are typically veteran birders who are very familiar with the area or region they are a reviewer for. If they see something that seems unusual, they will contact the birder and ask about the species or the number of the species reported.
Yes, I have been contacted by eBird reviewers. In some instances, I just had fat finger and reported the wrong species. At other times I have to further document my sightings. And there are times where I have seen or heard a species and I don’t have any evidence other than what I have seen or heard. In those instances, I accept the fact that my sighting won’t be reported to the eBird birder universe.
“Data Over Passion: A focus on tracking, counting, and entering data through the app can feel like it overshadows the pure enjoyment of watching birds.”
There’s a spot close to where I am currently staying in London, Mile End Park. When I go there to bird I keep a eBird checklist and I watch how many species and yes, I’m tracking my lifetime birds for that hotspot. But for the most part I bird there for the joy of it. It is so hard because when I bird I like to see how many species I can see in any day. But then there are those special moments where the birding overtakes that focus.
Once I was birding a park in London and a Eurasian jay landed right next to me. I got a great picture of this gorgeous bird.
At my patch Kenilworth one time a pileated woodpecker came to a rotting stump and began tearing it apart. Soon his partner came to the same stump. I got another incredible picture.
Then there was a time when a flicker came to bare tree and the moon was in the background.
One day I was in Kenilworth looking for brown thrashers with my thermal scope. I found a big spot on my scope. I looked and looked for a thrasher and just couldn’t find it. Why? I was looking for the wrong bird. It was a woodcock. It was mid-February, so I thought it was early for a woodcock. Instead, I got the best view I’ve ever had of a woodcock. After seeing that bird I was literally skipping down the trail.
Yes, the tyranny of eBird is real but there are times like those that make birding very, very special.
I won’t say much more about this. Instead, I will refer you to a fabulous movie that really exposes extreme listers for what we are. The movie is Listers. Warning, the movie is a bit off color. It’s very funny and the bird photography is extraordinary. Watch this movie and you’ll get a feel for listers and the tyranny of eBird.