eBird data will never be reliable for some species
My name is Tony. I am an eBird photo-review junkie. I have a problem. Is there a support group for my particular addiction? I look at the recent photo feed nearly every day. Oh, not as a whole. Yes, I do scrutinize the first 30 photos in the take, usually finding no identification mistakes (usually, but not always). However, what I am after in my dependence-derived daily dive into the search for misidentified subjects of photos submitted to eBird is focused on a very few species. One might say hyper-focused. For the most part, I review the photos of species that have proven to be difficult for the average Joe eBirder. Quick! Which two-species ID conundrums come to mind when asked to name the most frequently-mistaken identifications from Canada through the United States and Mexico to some points farther south? I am certain that most experienced birders could guess the two combos I intended when devising this essay's title. No, Trumpeter vs. Tundra is not a problem-child duo in my e...