Editing Birdwatching (section)

=== Mobile applications ===
The increasing availability of mobile devices in the 2010s allowed the smartphone to become a useful tool for birding. Mobile apps can be used as replacements for physical birding field guides, such as the digital version of the ''[[The Sibley Guide to Birds|Sibley Guide to Birds]]'' and the official Audubon Society app.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2015-08-04 |title=The Best Birding Apps and Field Guides |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/the-best-birding-apps-and-field-guides |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.audubon.org |language=en}}</ref> Other apps utilize [[machine learning]] to automatically identifying birds from photographs and audio recordings, such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's [[Cornell Lab of Ornithology#Merlin Bird ID|Merlin Bird ID]] application and [[iNaturalist]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bowman |first=Dale |date=2021-07-08 |title=App-solutely enhancing outdoors experience: iNaturalist, Seek and Merlin Bird ID apps; plus Stray Cast |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/8/22568173/appsolutely-enhancing-outdoors-experience-inaturalist-seek-merlin-bird-id-apps-stray-cast |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |language=en}}</ref>

[[Cornell Lab of Ornithology]]'s [[eBird]] database is a popular tool used by birders to document their sightings. In addition to serving as a [[citizen science]] project used by ornithologists to document trends in bird populations,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-22 |title=We Helped Scientists Track Birds This Summer |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/explain/2023/birds-science |access-date=2023-11-03}}</ref> it allows birders see recent reports by other birders and search by species and location.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKee |first=Jenny |date=2022-10-07 |title=A Beginner's Guide to Using eBird |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/a-beginners-guide-using-ebird |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.audubon.org |language=en}}</ref> Some species, including endangered species and others likely to be disrupted by increased human activity, are designated "sensitive species" by eBird and have locations of sightings hidden from the general public.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Minor |first=Nick |date=2018-03-07 |title=eBird Is Now Censoring Sightings for 325 At-Risk Species |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/ebird-now-censoring-sightings-325-risk-species |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.audubon.org |language=en}}</ref>