Uploading to eBird

All full versions of the Birding Checklists are able to save an output file in the correct format for uploading to eBird. You still need to log in to eBird and upload the file, but the process is a lot faster than keying in each bird sighting individually. I hope that eBird will provide a direct interface (API) in the future, but for the time being these are the facilities they provide.

Step-by-step instructions are provided below for the eBird upload process.

1. Save your sighting logs using the Birding Checklist. At the end of your day's birding, all the birds logged (orange marker dot) need to be saved to a file. Make sure the eBird box is ticked, and the necessary data entered (which is mandatory for eBird to accept uploads). The US version has distance in miles and area in acres; other versions use kilometres and hectares. Be sure to select the correct country and state/region. The output file can subsequently be edited with Excel if you need to make changes prior to uploading to eBird.

• 1. The csv file is saved to the eBird folder on the SD card (eg USBirdingChecklist/ebird for the US version, or UKBirdingChecklist/ebird for the WP version). It is probably easier to connect your phone to your PC and copy the file to the PC prior to uploading to eBird.

  2. If you need to modify the data prior to upload, you can edit the csv file using Microsoft Excel or a similar program. Be careful not to change the format. Make sure you re-save the file in csv format, and note that the first column of the spreadsheet must be blank. If you view the csv file using a text editor (notepad or Wordpad) you will note that the start of each line is a comma – the file will not load into eBird if you edit the file and change this.

• 1. Full details of the eBird file format can be found on the eBird site.

  2. Log in to .

• 1. Go to “Submit Observation” and select “Import Data”.

• 1. Browse to the csv file you exported from the Birding Checklist (it is easier if you copied the file to a folder on your PC), and select “eBird Record Format (extended)”. Then click on Import File.

• 1. If all goes well should see a number of screens as eBird performs validation and processing of the file. If the file does not successfully import (first step), you probably have selected the wrong file or have edited the file and re-saved it incorrectly changing important aspects of the file format.

  2. In the second phase of processing you may be prompted to enter some data, such as select your location from a map or to confirm a bird species where the latin name does not match eBird (let me know if you find any of these and I will update the Birding Checklist application so that they match).

• 1. The final step will show a list of all the files you have imported. You can delete any files you have imported, so if you were testing the import process with a sample test file you can remove it now.

For more details see eBird at http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/using-the-ebird-data-import-tool.