Wood Duck photo by Paul Konrad

It’s been an inspiring year with some huge additions for eBird, and birders can’t wait to see what’s next in 2019. Sixteen years ago, eBird was initiated as a grand experiment: Using the internet to connect birders across the continent and around the world in a way that informs research and conservation. Now, more than 420,000 eBirders contribute sightings from the field, in your yard, and in your neighborhood. You have contributed more than 590 million bird observations, continuing to make eBird the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project.

Everything that birders do makes an important difference for the birds that we care about: Helping to inspire the millions of people each year who come to eBird to learn; assisting the tens of thousands of people who use eBird data every year for research, conservation and education; and informing work that helps the birds themselves.

2018 was a milestone year for eBird, delivering a new era of scientific and conservation applications, innovative new birding tools, and much more. Of course, as always, all of this is 100 percent free of charge to anyone who wishes to use it.

For the rest of this expansive article and all the impressive improvements, additions and uses for eBird, see https://ebird.org/news/ebird-2018-year-in-review