Submitting an eBird Checklist

From Audubon.org A Beginner's Guide to Using eBird (accessed on 3/18/2025)

Logging a record of your sightings, called a checklist in eBird, requires some key details that help you—and scientists—keep track of where and when you spot birds. The eBird app will automatically record some of this information when you click “Start Checklist” on the home screen. Don’t have service? If you’ve installed that area’s bird pack, you can still keep track of your observed birds, and the checklist will automatically upload the next time you have a signal. (Or, record this information in a notebook or the notes section of your smartphone as you are birding and enter it later.)


Where did you bird? The app offers the option to record a GPS track of your route—useful for pinpointing the location and calculating the total distance traveled. Once you start your checklist, you can adjust your location immediately for a more precise species list, or do it later when you finish birding. An accurate location gives scientists the most helpful information. Many locations, like refuge trails, are already named in eBird and you can select one that best matches your location. If you are birding in a large area that spans multiple habitats—walking a trail that meanders through a forest and a beach, for example—try to submit a separate checklist for each. 


When and how did you bird? The app will automatically record the date and time of your outing, along with how long you birded. At the bottom of the app, click on the horizontal dashed lines—the checklist settings—to change how you birded (observation type). Walking a trail or driving a refuge loop? Select “traveling” (even if pausing frequently to look and listen for birds). Sitting at a hawk watch platform? Select “stationary.” On a morning run and happen to identify several species? Select “incidental,” since birding wasn’t your primary activity. If you allow the app to record your GPS track, it can select the observation type automatically. Don’t forget to stop your track when you’re done birding—leaving it on will skew the resulting data on how much effort it took to find the birds you logged.


What species did you find? Record all the birds you were able to confidently identify, visually or by ear. Click on the “+” to the left of a species name to add one bird at a time, or select the species name to manually enter your observed number. Add comments to document noteworthy birds or counts. Pro tip: Even if your eBird profile is private, your checklists will always be public, so other users will see your comments.

Give Your Best Effort Before you submit your checklist, eBird will ask if your list is “complete.” For eBird’s purposes, complete means you did your best to identify and count all the birds you encountered, not just the highlights. Complete checklists are the most useful to scientists, but cut yourself some slack if you missed a bird or two or weren’t able to ID everything you found.