[Tweeters] Tweeters versus eBird

[George Heleker]

On 2021-05-27 15:40, George Heleker wrote:

> I am a retired individual with few tech. skills but it was easy

> getting going with eBird and Tweeters. And believe it or not, there

> are actually some experienced birders out there who love birds and

> birding that aren't interested in chasing rarities. Some of those

> folks, like myself, like both eBird and Tweeters. I like Tweeters

> because there are a lot of very knowledgeable folks and good writers

> that write about birds which serves to increase my interest and

> knowledge. I love eBird because I'm interested in what birds people

> are finding out there, especially locally, and for the great record

> keeping that eBird allows for my own sightings. eBird is also a great

> tool for advancing the study of birds.

> 

> "A million ways to bird".

> 

> George Heleker

> Whidbey Island, WA

> 

> 

> 

> On 2021-05-27 14:40, Doug Santoni wrote:

>> I am not a “digital native,” but I have learned to use Tweeters and

>> the basic functionality of eBird. A couple of years ago, I was not a

>> subscriber to Tweeters. I learned through a very painful experience

>> when I missed the Ross’s Gull (that got eaten by an eagle) not far

>> from my house near Foster Island, that eBird postings do not go live

>> immediately.  Stated differently, I might have seen the rare gull if I

>> had been on Tweeters, but I missed it because the posting on eBird was

>> slightly delayed.  After that incident, I called the Cornell Lab of

>> Ornithology (which I support actively!), and they offered a somewhat

>> complex technical explanation, but the lag is a system feature.

>> Tweeters, I believe, is closer to a real time posting. So in the vein

>> of “to everything a purpose,” I believe that Tweeters is better when

>> it comes to timely information when it really counts!  Plus, I like

>> the color commentary and the report of misses as well as successful

>> cases that are provided on Tweeters.  I hope this is helpful.

>> 

>> Doug Santoni

>> Seattle

>> Ph 305-962-4226

>> DougSantoni at gmail.com

>> 

>>> On May 27, 2021, at 2:17 PM, Garrett Haynes <garrettwhaynes at me.com> 

>>> wrote:

>>> 

>>> Hello Tweets,

>>> 

>>> There are always a lot of comments about the use of tweeters versus 

>>> eBird and asking people to post on both for those who don't use eBird 

>>> and I would like to throw my own two cents into the ring.

>>> 

>>> First off, full disclosure that I am 35 and have grown up fully in 

>>> the digital age and used computers since I was a little kid. I use 

>>> Tweeters, eBird, Facebook, and texts/calls from other birders to find 

>>> out about rare bird alerts. If there was another good option for 

>>> finding out about rare birds I would use that too. As a typical 

>>> modern person I have multiple email accounts, social media, messaging 

>>> apps, and get more emails, calls, texts, DM's, etc. a day than I 

>>> would like, as it seems like most people do. I admit it may be a 

>>> little harder for me to sympathize/empathize with those who are not 

>>> as comfortable with technology and digital overload as I am, since I 

>>> have been immersed in it from a younger age than some, but I am 

>>> trying. Now, on to my thoughts on Tweeters and eBird

>>> 

>>> Let's start with Tweeters. From my understanding people can sign up 

>>> for a daily digest or they can get each post sent to them 

>>> individually (I only get the daily digest, so correct me if I'm 

>>> wrong). This means that a Tweeters subscriber is either getting 1 

>>> email a day or 5-20 emails a day from Tweeters depending on the day. 

>>> There is a trade off. If you don't like a lot of emails and sign up 

>>> for the daily digest your inbox is much smaller but you may not find 

>>> out about a rare sighting until the end of the day. If you sign up to 

>>> get every post separately, you will have a lot more emails but can 

>>> see a post much sooner and possibly get to a bird that same day 

>>> before it's gone. This is up to personal preference and choice and 

>>> weighing the trade off for yourself.

>>> 

>>> Now about eBird. People seem to post about eBird alerts like they are 

>>> somehow different than Tweeters and that by getting an eBird account 

>>> you will suddenly be bombarded with a million more emails or by 

>>> signing up you will be forced to become one of those dreaded county 

>>> listers, haha. However, signing up for eBird alerts is no different 

>>> than signing up for Tweeters. If with your digital skill level you 

>>> were capable of signing up for Tweeters you are capable of signing up 

>>> for eBird. Once signed up there is no obligation to maintain your 

>>> lists on eBird, become a county lister, or any other such thing. You 

>>> can choose what alerts you want to receive, either statewide or by 

>>> county. You can choose to receive a single daily digest or get an 

>>> hourly email alert, just like Tweeters. If you want fewer emails then 

>>> sign up for the single daily alert. If you want to be notified about 

>>> everything as soon as possible, then get the hourly, whatever floats 

>>> your boat. I actually think getting a!

>>> n eBird alert is better because it automatically includes a link in 

>>> the email alert to a Map location of where they saw the bird (at 

>>> least the general location if not exactly) and you can see the 

>>> posters entire checklist of other birds they saw as well, where this 

>>> isn't the case with a Tweeters post.

>>> 

>>> IMHO there shouldn't be any need for disparaging about bird sightings 

>>> that were or were not posted to Tweeters as well as eBird as I 

>>> believe all of us on here are capable of signing up for both, as I 

>>> have explained above. I do agree that it certainly doesn't hurt 

>>> anything to post to both as there will still always be people who 

>>> will never sign up for eBird, or maybe a subscriber is signed up for 

>>> eBird but not subscribed to alerts for the location where the bird 

>>> was at, or the person who saw the bird is signed up for eBird but 

>>> doesn't input lists and only posts their sighting to Tweeters, so 

>>> there is some variation in personal account usage, and so there are 

>>> some  advantages to posting to both. I admit I am much more likely to 

>>> post on eBird only, although I don't fault people who only post to 

>>> Tweeters only and not eBird. That's why I utilize alerts from both.

>>> 

>>> If you are unsure of how to start an eBird account I am happy to walk 

>>> you through it. You can set it up and then you don't even ever have 

>>> to login to it again if you don't want, the alerts will just show up 

>>> in your email like Tweeters on their own without any further 

>>> obligation.

>>> 

>>> Email me if you want help with this or have any other questions. 

>>> Thanks for reading my long winded addition to this discussion!

>>> 

>>> Garrett Haynes

>>> Auburn, WA

>>> 

>>> Sent from my iPhone

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