streak noun
1. A series of consecutive days submitting an eBird checklist
streak verb
1. To submit eBird checklists on consecutive days
2. To run naked through a public place
Boy, do I hate to disappoint people. Particularly the people who have been gracious enough to lend their time and birding expertise to my podcast. People like Anuj Ghimire (The Bird Guy), AKA Episode 3 of Ten Birding Questions.
Last week, Anuj posted a Note on Substack asking the general birding public whether they use eBird and what their current checklist streak is.
After taking a moment to be impressed by Anuj’s prodigious streak of 1,516 consecutive days of submitting a checklist on eBird (4.15 years without missing a beat!), I chuckled the kind of chuckle that isn’t so much out of amusement as it a need to tamp down a burning shame. I chuckled because I knew full well how lazy I’ve been with eBird lately. Not with birding, mind you. That I do every day, whether it’s a couple of hours of hiking or fifteen minutes nosing around the yard. But as far as submitting a daily checklist? Not a priority. Not since I determined at the start of 2024 not to miss a day for a full calendar year. That year largely accounts for my own personal best checklist streak, which stood at 404 days when I finally let it lapse sometime in February of 2025.
Still, I did have a modest streak of my own going when I saw Anuj’s Note.
Anuj wasn’t impressed. He could have dismissed me as a hopeless layabout, but like any good guy with a scientific brain, he took a more constructive, solutions-based approach.
First things first—by my reckoning, I already owe Anuj a six pack, so let’s call it even when I get to 30. Second—you better believe I’m filing that visit me in Nepal part away for future reference. Nepal! Land of 900+ birds! A country roughly the size of Tennessee but with thrice the amount of avifauna. Birding that beautiful, mountainous land has been a goal of mine since my conversation with Anuj. Birding with Anuj in his home country? Dream come true. Forget the six pack. Give me a Himalayan Monal!🇳🇵
In the meantime, there’s a streak to attend to. First, a couple of notes on strategy. To compensate for my sloth, I’ll use eBird features I’ve largely neglected in the past, features like breeding codes, which during mating season allow birders to report the breeding activities they observe, everything from courtship behavior, to copulation, to nest building, to feeding hatchlings in the nest. Interested in upping your eBird game and providing scientists with valuable breeding intel? Perfect time of year for it! You can access eBird’s breeding codes by tapping the bird on an active checklist and entering the code that corresponds with the observed breeding activity. Northern Cardinals are singing nonstop right now, so I chose S for Singing Bird.
I’ll also be contributing to the Pennsylvania Bird Atlas, a statewide bird census with a portal that is easily accessed via eBird, if you know where to look. Not every region offers a bird atlas or other targeted data collection portal. To find out what birding projects are available to you, tap the bottom left hand button on your active checklist, then select your project.
Finally, I’ll be submitting somewhat more photographic media than I’m accustomed to. As for sound recordings? Those submissions will have to remain firmly fixed at zero for the time being. Honestly, I can’t do every damned thing.
So how’s it going? So far, so good! By the end of today I will have submitted to eBird for eight consecutive days, with a total of 19 checklists blowing February and March (a paltry 14 and 14 checklists, respectively) out of the water. The best part? I can hardly wait to submit a checklist in the morning. That’s the thing about birders like Anuj—their passion is contagious.
April 1—My streak got off to an exciting start on the cheekiest of calendar days. Three checklists yielded several first-of-year (FOY) birds, including Fish Crow, Horned Grebe, and Osprey. Here I’ll take the opportunity to advise that, however the date may invite eBird chicanery, submitting spurious bird sightings on eBird in the name of an April Fools gag is strongly frowned upon and could get you kicked off the platform. Tempted to report a Three-wattled Bellbird in Walla Walla, Washington? Good luck submitting a checklist after finding yourself on a blacklist.
Nothing erroneous about the female Red-winged Blackbirds of Allegheny County, who began to arrive in late March, about a week after the males. Here’s one playing nice with a Song Sparrow under the feeders.
April 2—I’d been bemoaning the complete lack of irruptive finches visiting our yard for years, and it looked like the winter of 2025-26 would be more of the same, until I spotted a single female Purple Finch at our back feeders last Thursday. She flew off before I could take a photo, but happily I found her again in one of the nearby oaks. Drought, you are officially over!
April 3—We spent Easter weekend in Akron, Ohio with family at my brother’s place. Friday was a busy day, and my scorching-hot two-day streak was on wobbly ground until I submitted a checklist from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Two birds—a Red-tailed Hawk and the American Crow harassing it.
April 4—My brother’s place is a home of many feeders. Many feeders that attract many birds, like the handful of Northern Cardinals jockeying for breeding territory the entire weekend (breeding code T for Territorial Defense!), except when pausing to feed on a safflower seed.
Calm and stoic, this female Cardinal observed the frenzied antics of the males from her perch, crest tousled by the wind.
Early April is that brief period when Dark-eyed Juncos and Chipping Sparrows share the same habitat. The Juncos will be gone soon. Probably. My brother had a breeding pair oversummer in his yard last year! As always with birds—expect the unexpected.
My Summit County lifer Broad-shouldered Hawk rounded out Saturday’s checklist of 31 species that also featured my FOY Wild Turkey and a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, captured here in an astonishing feat of photographic mediocrity.
April 5—Speaking of irruptive finches, my brother’s yard matched our yard’s Purple Finch on Saturday and then surpassed it when a small flock of Pine Siskins showed up on Sunday.
Of course we took some time off from the birds to turn our attention to hidden eggs.
April 6—Back in Pittsburgh, I had a friendly run-in with this Mallard Drake. Per a cue from James Freitas, I spent a bit more time than usual admiring his colors.
We stood there contemplating each other until he’d had enough and joined his mate in the creek. But they weren’t ready to part ways just yet.
April 7—My search for Louisiana Waterthrushes in their annual nesting grounds along Pine Creek was fruitless, and an otherwise uneventful hike was salvaged by my FOY Eastern Towhee.
April 8—The Cathedral of Learning, the second tallest academic building in the world, is an architectural marvel that houses the University of Pittsburgh’s English department and my wife Alex’s office. It’s also currently home to a breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons. You can watch a livestream of Carla and Ecco incubating their four eggs in turns and occasionally munching on a Rock Pigeon. I declined to count the bird I photographed atop the cathedral today, which I believe was one of the Peregrines but was too distant to be sure.
Not in doubt were the three FOY Louisiana Waterthrushes I heard as Alex and I walked along the Fall Run ravine trail later this afternoon. I heard their descending song more than I saw them, and it seemed a herald of spring and a serenade to many migrating birds, and checklists!, to come. Louisiana Waterthrushes are my favorite warbler. I was overjoyed to hear them, and you better believe I entered their bobbing asses on eBird.
April checklists to date—19
April species—55
I love eBird. I find it an incredible asset to the hobby and to scientists who track bird populations and distribution around the world. That said, I’ve always abided by one rule when it comes to birding—bird how you want to. Short of trampling habitat and harassing birds, it’s all good. And as useful a tool as it is, it can be a distraction in the field. We’re out there to look at birds, after all, not look at a screen. And maybe that’s what ultimately killed my streak at 404. When I started feeling simultaneously compelled and unwilling to pull my phone out for some data entry, I knew eBirding had become an eBurden. I was submitting checklists for the sake of the streak, not for the sake of science.
But no need to overcompensate. I’ll rise to this April challenge and see where it goes from there. Whether I can or want to best 404, I don’t know. What I do know is I’ll take my breaks where I need them.
Just don’t tell Anuj!
My wife Alex finds this in-flight Downy Woodpecker disturbing and totally creepy. I think it’s a cool shot of a common bird caught in uncommon fashion. Tricky sucker too—though apparently a female, the position of the bird’s head obscures a critical field mark identifying him as male.
I knew I made a good choice when I asked Anuj on Ten Birding Questions. I made another good choice when I subscribed to his Substack. You can read his own thoughts on eBird and checklist streaks in his post from April 5th (spoiler alert—1,500 straight days ain’t easy!).
That’s all for this week. Do you use eBird? If so, how? Do you use breeding codes? Do you contribute to a bird atlas? Do you add supporting media to your sightings? If you don’t use eBird, why? Do you have any reservations about using it? Is there an intimidation factor? If so, let this post serve as an invitation to discuss the obstacles—my DMs are open, as is the comment section👇
Until next time, happy migration, happy eBirding, and don’t forget to streak your ass off!
nwb ♎︎
Thank you for reading! My goal at Birding with BillBow is to bring you funny, informative content about birds every week. If you find yourself laughing or thinking or just being plain entertained, consider aiding my mission of spreading bird joy by upgrading to a paid subscription. As always, 5% of earnings donated to the American Birding Association.
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This post was human generated. All media by Nathaniel Bowler.
Developmental edits by Alexandra Hidalgo.
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