Rarity Alerts

Bird Line ©Paul Anderson - Creative Commons
What’s about?

These links are to bird-lines, networking sites, newsgroups and other forums.

I am not a Twitcher these days, but I do like to know what is about where and still like to see birds new to me or that I have not seen before in my home county. Newcomers to an area, or overseas visitors will, however, find such services invaluable not just for seeing rarities but in appreciating how birds move through an area and what sites are likely to hold good numbers or variety of birds.

These days there are choices from inertial systems such as pagers and smartphone alerts that keep you abreast of birding news as it happens, to birdlines and digests, which you can consult when you are free to do some birding and want to know what’s about.

Many individual states and counties maintain sightings websites and facebook pages… see the appropriate geographical pages for them.

Mailing lists and paging services also appear on their relevant geographical page.

Birding Aps
  • BirdGuides

    Apple iOS | Android
    | Warners Group Publications Plc | 55.8 MB | Requires iOS 9.3 or later | 18 MB | Requires Android 4.1 and up |

    The BirdGuides app offers specially designed access to the latest bird news from BirdGuides.com. Quickly and easily find what scarce and rare birds are near you. You can also upload your sightings to us, and we'll share the data with the British Trust for Ornithology (registration required).
  • BirdTrack

    Apple iOS | Android
    | British Trust for Ornithology | 39.4 MB | Requires iOS 8.0 or later | Requires Android 4.4 and up |

    The bird recording app designed for use by birders worldwide to help keep track of observations and targets. Visits can be recorded using a variety of species baselists making it useful both at home and abroad. Individual observations can be recorded on your device. Registered BirdTrack users can then verify and upload visits when convenient for analysis and comparison to other records. Registered users can record visits using the same set of locations on both the web and mobile devices giving a seamless home and fieldwork tool set. Your BirdTrack data is used by the British Trust for Ornithology in one of the largest citizen science projects of its kind for on going scientific research and education. To upload records users must have a BirdTrack account (free). Please visit the BirdTrack website (http://www.birdtrack.net) to register or use the register button in the App. http://www.birdtrack.net Brought to you through a partnership between BTO, RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, SOC and WOS
  • Birdseye

    Android


    The most modern bird finding app has gone global, with content, sightings and packages for any region you are interested in.
  • eBird

    Apple iOS | Android
    | Cornell Lab of Ornithology | 9.5M | Requires Android 4.1 and up | 58.6MB | Requires iOS 9.0 or later |

    eBird Mobile makes it easy to record the birds you see in the field, and seamlessly link these observations with eBird--a global online database of bird records used by hundreds of thousands of birders around the world. This free resource makes it easy to keep track of what you see, while making your data openly available for scientific research, education, and conservation. eBird Mobile is the only app that passes information directly from the iOS device to your eBird account on the web.
Forums & Mailing Lists
  • Angus Birding (UK)

    Sightings & Rarity News
    www.AngusBirding.com Bird & Wildlife Sightings In Angus & Eastern Scotland
  • Birdguides (UK)

    Sightings & Rarity News
    BirdGuides is first for bird news. Get instant bird sightings on any device, anywhere all from as little as £13.50 per quarter.
  • Birdline Australia

    Sightings & Rarity News
    The purpose of Birdline Australia is to publish records of national interest.
  • Birdline East Anglia (UK)

    Sightings & Rarity News
    Anyone can listen to all the latest bird news on Birdline East Anglia by phoning 09068 700 245.
  • England Bird News (UK)

    Sightings & Rarity News
    See county and UK country pages
  • NARBA (North American Rare Bird Alert)

    Sightings & Rarity News
    Since 1985, NARBA has been the source for fast, accurate rare bird reports in the continental United States, Alaska and Canada. Members receive reports by email or on the web and have access to valuable archives of rare birds for the past decade.
  • Rare Bird Alert (UK)

    Sightings & Rarity News
    Established in 1991 Rare Bird Alert is the longest running instant birdnews service in the UK. Our team of experienced and dedicated birders check and send reports as soon as they break, sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Other Links
  • Bird Forum

    Website
    The biggest and most active forum on the net
  • Birding Planner

    Website
    Planning tool for birding trips around the county (or country equivalent) with ebird hotspots.
  • Photograph Bird Database

    Website
    Send in your sightings from anywhere and view those of others.

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