Citizen science isn’t just for the birds; why I participate

Seth Shteir and his cat, Luther.

Submitted photo/Natalie Cabrera

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It’s 6 a.m. on a warm June morning and birdsong fills the little wetland along our road with such beautiful notes it would impress any musical virtuoso. I watch as a MacGillivray’s warbler, with its gray head and white eye ring, darts through the thick willows to defend its territory.

I am here to gather data about birds as a participatory or citizen scientist so I can help the conservation community understand how to best protect them. Although I don’t get paid for my work, I find it meaningful and rewarding: birds are beautiful and interesting, and I want to do my part to protect the natural world.

I plan to upload my data to eBird, one of Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s highly successful citizen science programs accessed via a mobile app or web-based platform. I encourage others to join me and become participatory scientists for their local park, wildlife refuge, wetland, forest or grassland.

Birds face many threats today, including habitat loss, climate change, urbanization, predators including house cats, and collisions with windows and other structures in the human-built environment.

The North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s 2025 State of the Birds Report found that numerous North American bird species have declined with almost 230 species requiring urgent conservation action. The report comes five years after a 2019 study documented the loss of 3 billion birds in North America over the past 50 years.

There are compelling reasons to become a participatory scientist.

“Birds live in every habitat on every continent, but we don’t have enough scientists to study their populations around the world,” said Tina Phillips, PhD, assistant director for the Center for Engagement in Science and Nature at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Participatory science programs do not just collect data for the sake of data but can be instrumental in protecting bird habitat and understanding population trends, migration patterns, reproductive success and disease, Phillips says.

In the western United States, there are almost 450,000 eBird participatory scientists and their data has been used to inform conservation and development land management decisions to better protect bird habitat, minimize the impacts of development, and understand which bird species are most at risk. 

Participatory science also benefits humans. Many projects take place in nature, which studies show reduce stress, anxiety and result in greater life satisfaction. Watching birds activates the senses, piques curiosity and provides a life-long learning opportunity.

As we age, birding can be beneficial in creating social bonds, a key factor in preventing dementia. During tough times, birding can soften the challenges that come with crises. While it doesn’t make problems go away, birding can serve as a coping mechanism. Best of all, you can observe birds in faraway places or right at home.

Tammy Sperry, who lives on a six-acre property in Montana’s Boulder Valley with her husband, Charlie, has been recording the first date birds arrive at her property for more than 20 years. The property has wetlands, cottonwoods and aspen, which attract seventy species of birds including orioles, tanagers, and hummingbirds. Tammy first learned about birding by taking a course at Carroll College. “I fell in love with birds and couldn’t get enough of bird watching,” recounts Tammy. Although Tammy has not utilized online participatory science platforms like eBird yet, she would love to share her records if they can help conservation efforts.

Fortunately, the eBird platform has a feature where people can upload records retroactively. Early in its development, Cornell Lab of Ornithology staff realized that many people had what they warmly referred to as “shoebox data,” bird observations that were inherited from parents or grandparents. They are encouraged to upload it retroactively to eBird. For more information and instructions, visit support.ebird.org/en/support/solutions/articles/48000907878-upload-spreadsheet-data-to-ebird.

One need not be an expert birder to become a participatory scientist. There are many wonderful resources that can help novice bird watchers improve their identification skills. One great resource for learning bird vocalizations and visual identification is the Lab’s Merlin app.

Merlin has gotten over 20 million downloads since its debut in 2014 and has up to a 95% accuracy for identifying North American bird songs. The app sound identification feature provides real-time species identification using artificial intelligence that can recognize bird songs based on spectrograms — visual representations of bird song.

Another great resource is All About Birds, also from the Cornell Lab, a website that contains free, detailed information about bird songs, conservation, identification and behavior. The Lab’s Bird Academy has many online courses in identification and bird behavior, including one called eBird Essentials that teaches people how to become participatory scientists using eBird. I would also encourage new birders to obtain one of the many excellent field guides to the birds of western North America.

In a time of political, economic and environmental uncertainty, becoming a participatory scientist is a wonderful way to protect birds while doing something good for yourself.

Seth Shteir is a natural resource specialist who has been exploring the West and watching birds for more than 35 years. He lives in Helmville, Montana. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.