February Update

At BirdingApp, we posit that all birding is inherently local. Even if you’d rather be spotting exotic lifers in a far-off destination, the reality is that you’re birding where you are right now. Birds don’t recognize geopolitical boundaries—so why should your chat groups and rare bird alerts? Unfortunately, in the birding world, these boundaries have often created barriers to entry for those exploring regions away from home. Birders have had to juggle multiple platforms, from Facebook to Discord, while also navigating invite-only groups.

BirdingApp solves this problem with a universal approach: our geospatial nearby chat and rare bird alerts (RBAs) ensure that you stay informed no matter where you are. If you’re not interested in certain species, simply exclude them from future alerts:

At the same time, we recognize the value of the pre-existing birding communities built around counties, states, and country listing regions. That’s why we’ve long offered a “state” RBA option, which periodically pulls in new rarities from eBird, that you can enable in your settings. Now, these alerts will jump to a new activity feed filter, allowing you to react and comment on RBAs from anywhere in your state or region. When a rarity pops up in a remote corner of your state, you can drop a heart on it to show your excitement—and signal your intention to chase by tapping the car icon!

Additionally, regional RBAs are now fully timezone- and daylight-aware. Instead of a fixed number of daily alerts, the system dynamically adjusts based on available daylight. When day length exceeds 12 hours, you’ll receive up to four alerts per day, strategically timed relative to sunrise and sunset. Shorter days will still provide two or three alerts, ensuring timely notifications while avoiding early-morning or late-night pings. This ensures you get the latest eBird rarities at optimal times throughout the day.

Sometimes you find a rarity in the field, and the last thing you want to do is finish your eBird list in a rush just to get the word out. In BirdingApp, you can create your own RBA posts that will notify everyone nearby and optionally everyone in the state. BirdingApp user Sean Williams recently posted a statewide RBA of a Barrow’s Goldeneye he found on Lake Erie in Ohio—the first chaseable one in 34 years. There was even an article about it in the Cleveland news!

Looking ahead, we’re working on expanding aspects of the nearby chat feature to a regional level. Stay tuned—more exciting updates are on the horizon!