Help Center

Choosing Locations

Why is it important to choose an accurate location?

Selecting your location on eBird Mobile

Selecting your location on the eBird website

Should I choose a personal location or a Hotspot?

Managing Personal Locations

The My Locations page

Rename a personal location

Move a personal location

Merge a personal location with another location

How do I turn a personal location into a Hotspot?

Why is it important to choose an accurate location?

Accurately representing where you went birding is critically important. Misplaced locations can result in birds being 'seen' where nobody will find them, or direct conservationists to prioritize work in places where that bird has never occurred. eBird Science relies on accurately placed observations for output like our Status & Trends maps. If the locations underlying these scientific products are unreliable, then results may be unreliable as well. Please make your checklist locations as accurate and precise as possible!

Selecting your location on eBird Mobile

eBird Mobile uses your mobile device to make location selection a breeze. When you press “Start Checklist", the app will automatically assign the checklist to your current coordinates. You can adjust your location selection during the checklist, or you will be prompted to confirm your location at the end before you "Submit".

There are two location selection options on eBird Mobile: Recent and Nearby.  

Recent Location has your last 50 locations that you've used on eBird Mobile; you can choose from these locations without the need for an internet connection. As you use locations within the app, this list will automatically populate. 

Map Location uses the phone’s GPS and data connection to show a map of all nearby eBird locations: both nearby public hotspots (icons with flames) and your personal locations (icons without flames). Recommended locations are shown in green, while other nearby locations appear in blue. The map will default to the location created by your device when you started the checklist. You can choose a new personal location by pressing anywhere on the map, or select an existing Hotspot or personal location by tapping the icon for it. If you move the map, tap "Load Points" to refresh the screen and show nearby locations. 

Edit the name of a new personal location 

If you create a new personal location on eBird Mobile, consider changing the location name so that it is more informative than the default name. A descriptive name for a traveling route might be "Central Park walk from Turtle Pond to Strawberry Field". 

1. Open any unsubmitted checklist and tap the location name
2. On the "Choose a location" screen, select the "Nearby" tab. 
3. Use the auto-selected location or create a new one by tapping somewhere else on the map. 
4. Tap "Create Location" and you will be given the option to edit the location name.

Remember, this only works for new locations; you cannot edit the names of existing personal locations or Hotspots. Learn more about renaming personal locations below.

Selecting your location on the eBird website

There are four location selection options on the eBird website: 

Choose from Your Locations provides a searchable list of every location where you’ve submitted a checklist in eBird. This is the fastest method for entering checklists from locations you previously birded.

Find it on a map is the fastest method overall, and especially so for entering a checklist from a new location. Just type in the region where you went birding. Then use search bar or the plus sign to zoom in to a particular area. Click on the map to create a new location, or select from the existing personal locations (blue icons) or hotspots (red icons with flames). You can also suggest your new personal location as a hotspot from this display. 

Find or create a new checklist location using the map view

Use Latitude/Longitude is a quick method if you already have the GPS coordinates for where you went birding. NOTE: If using Latitude/Longitude, your coordinates should be formatted in Decimal Degrees or Degrees, Minutes, Seconds. You can toggle between these formats by clicking the button at the top of the page.

Use Select an entire city, county, state, or country for records that lack more precise location information or if you’re entering a baseline life list in eBird. Checklists at the county, state, or country level will not appear in eBird’s public outputs. Please do not use these options unless you truly lack a more precise location.

Should I choose a personal location or a Hotspot? 

Whether on the app or the website, it’s always important to choose a location that accurately represents where you went birding. eBird hotspots are designated locations frequently visited by your fellow eBirders. Only use eBird Hotspots when your entire checklist occurred within that hotspot's area. 

Some areas have many hotspots, so choose the most specific location that accurately describes your birding - even if it is a personal location. Learn more about choosing the right Hotspot here.

Precision is preferred! Select the location that best represents your birding, and only choose a Hotspot if you stayed within its area for your entire checklist. 

The "My Locations" page

Found on My eBird, the My Locations page provides a list of every single personal location ever used on any of your checklists - even hotspots and checklists shared with you! This page keeps your personal locations organized by letting you rename, move, or merge them with others.

Select any location in My Locations for quick links to your species, checklists, and bar charts of your personal observations from that spot. Then submit a checklist from that location with a single tap.

Any changes in My Locations will apply to ALL of your personal checklists associated with that location.

Shared vs. Personal Locations

"Type" lets you filter your locations based on whether they are personal or shared. Shared locations include public Hotspots and personal locations created by other eBirders and shared with you.

IMPORTANT: You can only edit your own personal locations. Shared locations must be moved, renamed, or merged by the location owner. The location owner can be found by clicking on any shared location name. Hotspots can only be edited by designated Hotspot Reviewers.

Rename a Personal Location

Remember: You can only rename, move, or merge locations that you created (Type = Personal)

1. Go to My Locations from the My eBird page
2. Use the Search bar to find and select the personal location you wish to rename
3. Select "Rename" 
4. Enter the new location name in the "Enter new name" box and click "Rename" 

ALL checklists submitted from this personal location will now display the new name.

Move a Personal Location to a new place on the map

This action is only available for personal locations created by you. This process moves ALL checklists submitted from this personal location to a brand new location. This will NOT combine two personal locations together. For that action, see "Merge" below. 

Remember: You can only rename, move, or merge locations that you created (Type = Personal)

1. Go to My Locations from the My eBird page
2. Use the Search bar to find and select the personal location you wish to move
3. Select "Move"
4. Click on the map where you want the new location to be. The green icon will display the new location, the original location will not be indicated on the map.
5. Click the blue "Move" button to save the new location placement
6. If the move was successful, you will see a yellow notification bar that says "Location has been moved." 

Merge a Personal Location with another location or Hotspot

Merging a location will permanently combine all of the checklists from one location with another. This is helpful if:

• you have multiple redundant personal locations you wish to combine into a single location
• you want to merge a personal location with an existing Hotspot. 

Important: There is no way to undo a merge, so be careful! 

This action is only available for personal locations created by you. 

1. Go to My Locations from the My eBird page
2. Use the Search bar to find and select the personal location you wish to merge (i.e., the location you are sending checklists away from)
3. Select "Merge". The map will display:
   • nearby personal locations (blue icons) 
   • nearby public hotspots (red icons with flames)
   • the location to be merged with another (green icon) 
   • the number of checklists currently assigned to the green location (shown above the "Merge" button)
4. Click the personal location (blue) or Hotspot (red) you want the green personal location to be merged into. 
   • The name of the personal location or hotspot selected to receive the green location's checklists will be shown in bold above the "Merge" button.
5. The "Delete after merging" box should be:
   • Checked if you want to delete the green location from your personal locations after moving its checklists to the selected blue or red location
   • Unchecked if you want to keep the green location after moving all of its checklists to the selected blue or red location (effectively making the green location an "empty" personal location with no associated checklists)
6. Click the blue "Merge" button to re-assign all checklists from the green location to the selected blue personal location or red hotspot.
7. A pop-up will ask "Are you sure?" click Yes to continue. Remember, this action cannot be undone!
8. If the merge was successful, you will see a yellow notification bar that says "Location has been merged." 

Repeat these steps as needed until all desired personal locations are combined. If "Delete after merging" is checked, your old personal locations will disappear as their checklists are merged with the new location.

How do I turn a personal location into a Hotspot?

On eBird, your personal locations are indicated by blue icons, and public hotspots are indicated by larger red icons with a flame inside. You can suggest any personal location to become a public birding hotspot provided it meets certain criteria. However, each suggested Hotspot must undergo a review process before it becomes a public location. Learn more about this process and how to suggest a Hotspot here.

Unlike your eBird personal locations, these tightly clustered White-breasted Woodswallows cannot merge into a single location.

White-breasted Woodswallow by William Hall/Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab (ML74537281)