eBird is a cool tool for comparing what birds I’m seeing to what everyone else is seeing. The coolest thing about eBird, though, is the citizen science aspect. By enlisting recreational birders to submit their sightings, there is much more data recorded than could be collected by a research team of designated birders. All the data submitted goes to a central repository. All that data is available for study. Check out one of the results, a migration animation:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/occurrence-maps/swainsons-hawk
Sightings reported year-round, from all over the planet, are helping researchers put together patterns for what birds do and why. They put up occurrence maps for 15 species to start, and will add 5 more birds every month.
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