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From Skeptic to Advocate: My BirdTalk Journey

A personal testimonial by John Callender

I was an experienced eBird user, hesitant to change my tried-and-true methods. Here's how BirdTalk transformed my birding experience.

The Comfort of Routine

I was late to the BirdTalk bandwagon. I knew and liked Steve, the app's creator; he and I had a fun, low-key competition in the county-year-list rankings a few years ago (Steve won by six species). So when I learned that he was working on an app that let you enter eBird checklists hands-free I was intrigued.

At the same time, I had my own approach to eBird that I was comfortable with. With more than 2,500 days in my checklist streak, pulling out my phone to enter birds had become second nature.

"You're always staring at your phone," my wife would say when we birded together. She suggested I only enter birds every 15 minutes or so, recording them from memory during breaks in the action.

I defended my continuous-updates approach. "I forget birds if I wait. And it's not like I stop birding when I update the checklist. I'm still using my ears even when I'm looking at my phone."

Initial Hesitations

In hindsight there were other, unspoken reasons why I resisted. I've always wrestled with feelings of self-consciousness. As a boy I sometimes would hide my binoculars on the way to go birding, only pulling them out when I reached an area away from other people. In recent years I've relaxed about that; so what if people notice me birdwatching? But the idea of wearing a bluetooth headset to talk to BirdTalk made my inner self-conscious teenager cringe.

There was also this: Over time I'd added to the paraphernalia I needed for birding: binoculars, field guide (now thankfully replaced in the field by my phone), and cameras that over time had become bigger and heavier. Did I really need another piece of technology? I was skeptical, too, of how well it would work. I imagined myself arguing with the app: "No, American CROW!" as passers-by altered course to give me a wide berth.

Taking the Plunge

Eventually, though, as birding friends kept telling me about BirdTalk, I decided to give it a try. I bought the recommended bluetooth headset, a model that works by bone conduction, with lightweight pads that rest on the temples, leaving your ears unobstructed for birding. I followed Steve's instructions for downloading and installing the app and tried it on my next outing.

The experience was transformative. Within minutes, I discovered that BirdTalk wasn't just another birding app — it was more like having a knowledgeable assistant who never tired, never complained, and never missed a beat. The voice commands were intuitive and few in number. Even better, I could speak quietly or whisper, perfect for those dawn chorus moments when you don't want to disturb other birders — or the birds.

What impressed me most was how the app seemed to think like a birder. When I said "Two crows," it knew I meant American Crows — the expected species in our area. When I spotted a rarity, I could be more specific: "One Solitary Sandpiper," and BirdTalk would flag it appropriately.

BirdTalk was a game-changer in many situations.

  • Mixed Flocks: Censusing a large group of gulls at the beach went from a mental juggling act to a smooth operation. "Four Western Gulls... six California Gulls... Western Gull... two more..." BirdTalk kept perfect running totals while I kept my binoculars up and my eyes on the birds.

  • Rapid Observations: When arriving at a busy location, I could now record multiple species simultaneously. A Song Sparrow singing while a Black Phoebe flies by? No problem — enter both without missing a beat.

  • Documentation: The "memo" command was great for documenting rarities:

    Me: "One Solitary Sandpiper"

    BirdTalk: "Solitary Sandpiper, rare here and now"

    Me: "Memo, Feeding in the lagoon near coordinates. Photos to come."

    The app automatically replaced "coordinates" with my exact GPS location — a feature that has proved invaluable for rare bird documentation.

A Convert

The true test came during a weekend when BirdTalk was temporarily unavailable during an update. I found myself reaching for my phone with increasing frustration, suddenly aware of how much time I was spending looking at the screen instead of at the birds. Each tap felt like a small interruption in my birding flow. When BirdTalk returned a few days later, the contrast was stark: I realized it hadn't added complexity to my birding — it had stripped it away.

What I originally feared would be "one more piece of technology" had actually freed me from technology's constraints. Instead of juggling between binoculars, phone, and the natural world, I could simply be present with the birds. The app had become an invisible partner in my birding practice, enhancing rather than intruding upon my connection with nature.

For those still hesitant about trying BirdTalk, I get it — I was there too. But if you're serious about using eBird to document your birding, this tool will revolutionize your field experience. It's not just about convenience; it's about rediscovering the joy of birding, unencumbered by the mechanics of record-keeping.

You should give it a try. You won't regret it.

John Callender is a birder based in Santa Barbara County, California. He has maintained a daily eBird checklist streak since 2018 and has been using BirdTalk since its beta release.

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