For a birder, nothing is as exciting as seeing a bird you don't know. But many of us make the same mistake: We grab a bird guide and furiously start paging through the illustrations. You should actually ignore those illustrations and rather study the distribution maps. Experienced birders pore over those miniature maps because they're the key to unlocking the identification of the confusing bird.
How do we know a species occurs)with the help of volunteers. Every time you head out on a dirt road, you can compile a list of the birds you see – along with the co-ordinates of their locations – and send it in. You can also update the database in real time by using a smartphone app like BirdLasser () – if you have cellphone reception, that is.
