One of AZFO’s main focuses since its founding has been exploring areas of Arizona where we lack the full picture of the status and distribution of birds. To give birders another opportunity to contribute to this goal, we launched the eBird Gaps Project in 2020. Through this project, birders are encouraged to contribute to eBird, a global community science database, their sightings from within five targeted and underbirded areas across five Arizona counties: Avra Valley (Pima and Pinal), Cactus Forest (Pinal), Chavez Pass (Coconino), Hassayampa Plain (Maricopa), and Santa Maria Mountains (Yavapai). Each of these areas show significant gaps in coverage, either with few or no eBird reports in any season or with an absence of reports from particular seasons, and each was selected through a thorough review of available eBird data.

 

We encourage birders to visit these underbirded areas during all seasons in order to get a more complete picture of the presence and distribution of birds. Many individuals may want to adopt one of these areas or specific locations in an area to visit regularly. Nearby local birding groups, college research classes, or other interested groups, when organizing field trips, might consider adding locations in one of the five areas to visit.

 

To submit your data, share checklists with the Gaps Project by tagging the username “AZFO gaps” when submitting your eBird checklists. This will help AZFO keep track of participation in the project and learn how to better refine and focus our goals.

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Links to information on the five areas and how to participate can be found below.

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Area Maps:

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Field Safety:

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