[Tweeters] Tweeters versus eBird

[Denis DeSilvis]

I absolutely agree! Although I usually stay away from these types of discussions, I truly believe that old school and new school work for me.

May all your birds be identified,
Denis

Avian Acres 🦉
Roy, WA
________________________________
From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf of George Heleker <earthman1950 at whidbey.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2021 3:41:42 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Tweeters versus eBird

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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