Cornell Lab of Ornithology working with the National Audubon Society revolutionized the avian data tracking process when the introduced the eBird tracker in 2002. Now, birders around the country can enter in sightings and access the latest information about who is seeing, what, where, when and how. Started with the concept that grass roots support for wildlife would provide a rich, and untapped source of data eBird has done just that. Information into and from eBird can be entered and accessed from the Internet, or from specially maintained portals in partner conservation organizations. This easy interface has made eBird one of the largest, fastest growing data resources for biodiversity and it is amassing data at an astounding rate, in March 2012 alone, participants reported over 3.1 million, (3,100,000) sightings, that is over One Hundred Thousand sightings a day.
Conservation biologists, land managers and teachers use the information from Cornell eBird regularly. However, this wealth of information is there for anyone who has an interest in birds and biodiversity. A user can track information by species or location. They can use it to spot trends and maintain their own bird information. Then they can recall the information using maps, graphs and charts in English, French and Spanish. Cornell eBird consolidates the efforts of bird lovers and transforms it into solid data.
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