eBird: Illustrated checklists

A new functionality has been added to eBird, the illustrated checklist. A sample is shown here:

The above is a section of the eBird Hotspot checklist for the San Luis Rey River mouth in northern San Diego County, a place where I happen to have obtained many rather good photos.

From the eBird.org website, select...
Explore Data
Explore Hotspots
Then choose...
San Luis Rey River--mouth, San Diego County, California, US
View Details

There you will find a menu for three items...
Overview/Recent Visits/Illustrated Checklist

Chose Illustrated Checklist.

Along with the weekly bar chart checklist is a photo chosen from among the best-rated for that location.

Additional photos from the location are in the rightmost column, indicated with a little camera icon and the number of total photos available. Please note that many photos are not rated yet. So if you see a poorer photo displayed, and there are many more photos to choose from, please click on the photo icon to bring up all the photos. Then click on the first photo and rate it, and continue on. Next time the illustrated checklist displays a photo, it will be one of the better ones.

One other thing that was new to me is that in the hotspot Overview page, down a line or two is another menu bar: Last Seen/First Seen/Bar Charts/Printable Checklist. It is this last menu item, Printable Checklist which was new to me. Great for a field trip where participants don't all have access to eBird Mobile.

The Illustrated Checklists appear for specific Hotspot sites, counties, states, and countries.

Even if you are not a regular contributor to eBird (and if not, why?) this application is unbeatable to help you prepare for a birding trip and find your target birds.