PatchBird
Explorer
Expanding bird knowledge beyond hotspots
PatchBird Explorer extends the core PatchBird methodology beyond fixed local survey sites, enabling travelling birders to contribute structured data from under-surveyed and remote areas. While traditional birding often centres on well-known hotspots, large portions of the landscape remain poorly documented. These overlooked habitats – from roadside scrub and agricultural margins to remote uplands – contain valuable information on bird distribution, abundance, and habitat use.
PatchBird Explorer was developed to help address these gaps. By applying the same standardised survey approach used in PatchBird Surveys, participants can transform brief stops during travel into scientifically meaningful observations, extending survey coverage well beyond established birding locations.
How it works
Survey Off-the-Grid Locations
Select remote or under-birded sites encountered during travel, such as roadside stops, rural landscapes, or little-visited natural areas.
Follow the 15-Minute Sampling Method
Carry out a short, stationary survey following the PatchBird protocol, recording all bird species detected during 15 minutes.
Submit to eBird
Submit your checklist via eBird and share it with the PatchBird Explorer account to ensure that your data are incorporated into the project’s analytical framework.
To support consistency, participants are asked to share their eBird username with the project during PatchBird registration. We also recommend marking assigned locations as personal patches in eBird, as repeated visits often yield unexpectedly valuable records.
Requesting grid corner points
To maintain structure and comparability across remote surveys, PatchBird Explorer uses a standardised 10 × 10 km grid system.
Requesting a Grid
Travellers wishing to contribute are asked to contact PatchBird Explorer in advance, outlining their planned travel area. A customised grid is then generated for the region of interest and shared with the participant.
Choosing a Survey Spot
Each grid cell includes a 50-metre buffer radius, allowing flexibility in selecting accessible survey locations while remaining aligned with the project’s spatial framework.
eBird Integration
As global UTM grids are not directly supported within eBird, survey locations are manually created and shared with participants by the project coordinator.
By following this system and applying the same methodology used in PatchBird Surveys, participants contribute to a structured, globally consistent dataset that documents birdlife well beyond traditional hotspots.
Checklist sharing
Please note: PatchBird Explorer uses a separate eBird account from PatchBird Surveys.
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Add PatchBirdExplorer to your contacts in eBird.
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Then add PatchBirdExplorer as a friend by ticking the checkbox in the Friends section; otherwise, the account may appear as unknown when sharing checklists.
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Please ensure that each completed checklist is shared with PatchBirdExplorer before submission.
More information on eBird’s checklist-sharing process is available here.
PatchBird Explorer Map
This interactive map highlights the expanding footprint of PatchBird Explorer. Each marker represents a surveyed location where birders have carried out standardised PatchBird surveys in overlooked or remote areas. Marker colours indicate different abundance classes, grouping survey results into clear bins that reflect relative bird abundance across locations.
At present, the map displays data from the pilot phase in Sicily and Morocco, but it will continue to grow as more travellers take part. From roadside verges and agricultural tracks to remote mountain slopes, every surveyed square adds resolution to our understanding of bird distribution beyond traditional hotspots.
Interested in contributing your own square? Join the initiative and help extend the map into under-recorded parts of the landscape.