EBird Pro: Search Photos and Sounds

words and screen captures by Matt Igleski, executive director, Chicago Bird Alliance

A tool I find helpful is searching through the Macaulay Library (which is the repository for all media submitted to eBird). If you scroll to the middle of the “Explore” page on the eBird website, you’ll find “Search Photos and Sounds,” which gives you access to all media ever uploaded to eBird/Macaulay Library.

Once you’re on this page, you will see an array of drop-down filter options to narrow down what you want to explore. I’ll highlight a couple of ways to use this feature for studying birds, but there are many options for exploring this database.

One way to use this tool is to simply search for a species you are interested in. For example, type “Scarlet Tanager” into the search field and see all the different photos and sounds of that species. This is a great way to study plumage differences between males and females or to study all the different plumage molts that a species might go through seasonally or at different ages—think of gulls as one example.

Another way to use this tool is to filter by location and date instead of by a specific species. Filtering by location is a great way to give yourself an idea of what birds you might see before visiting a certain location. The power of a tool like eBird, and consequently this media library, is that you can filter locations at many different scales. For example, you can choose a whole state or country, a county within a state, or down to a specific eBird hotspot.

Use the “Search Photos and Sounds” to explore media by location and date. Note, as you add more filters you’ll see them displayed just above the photos.

You can even choose different ways to filter the pictures at the top right. For example, this is now filtered by “Best Quality” photos, after being filtered by location and date.

Of course, as you further peruse the “Explore” page, you’ll find ways to research what times of the year you are most likely to see certain species, ways to sign up for email alerts for particular locations, or new ways to look at the data you’ve already submitted to eBird (for me that’s 3,000 checklists over nine years). The eBird database has become not only a significant contribution to overall bird science, but also a force for citizen scientists to explore data and learn for their own educational purposes.

Is there an eBird tool you want to learn about? Or perhaps you’re interested in writing a post? Email chicagobirder@gmail.com and let us know.