A programmatic interface to the eBird database. Find out more about eBird at their website.
You can install the stable version from CRAN
install.packages("rebird")Or the development version from Github
install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("ropensci/rebird")Then load the package into the R session
library("rebird")The eBird API server has been updated and thus there are a couple major changes in the way rebird works. API requests to eBird now require users to provide an API key, which is linked to your eBird user account. You can pass it to the ‘key’ argument in rebird functions, but we highly recommend storing it as an environment variable called EBIRD_KEY in your .Renviron file. If you don’t have a key, you can obtain one from https://ebird.org/api/keygen.
You can keep your .Renviron file in your global R home directory (R.home()), your user’s home directory (Sys.getenv("HOME")), or your current working directory (getwd()). Remember that .Renviron is loaded once when you start R, so if you add your API key to the file you will have to restart your R session. See ?Startup for more information on R’s startup files.
Furthermore, functions now use species codes, rather than scientific names, for species-specific requests. We’ve made the switch easy by providing the species_code function, which converts a scientific name to its species code:
species_code('sula variegata')## Peruvian Booby (Sula variegata): perboo1## [1] "perboo1"The species_code function can be called within other rebird functions, or the species code can be specified directly.
The eBird taxonomy is internally stored in rebird and can be called using
rebird:::tax## # A tibble: 16,513 x 14
## sciName comName speciesCode category taxonOrder bandingCodes comNameCodes
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <chr> <chr>
## 1 Struth… Common… ostric2 species 1 <NA> COOS
## 2 Struth… Somali… ostric3 species 6 <NA> SOOS
## 3 Struth… Common… y00934 slash 7 <NA> SOOS,COOS
## 4 Rhea a… Greate… grerhe1 species 8 <NA> GRRH
## 5 Rhea p… Lesser… lesrhe2 species 14 <NA> LERH
## 6 Rhea p… Lesser… lesrhe4 issf 15 <NA> LERH
## 7 Rhea p… Lesser… lesrhe3 issf 18 <NA> LERH
## 8 Nothoc… Tawny-… tabtin1 species 19 <NA> TBTI
## 9 Nothoc… Highla… higtin1 species 20 HITI <NA>
## 10 Nothoc… Highla… higtin2 issf 21 <NA> HITI
## # … with 16,503 more rows, and 7 more variables: sciNameCodes <chr>,
## # order <chr>, familyComName <chr>, familySciName <chr>, reportAs <chr>,
## # extinct <lgl>, extinctYear <int>While the internal taxonomy is kept up to date with each package release, it could be outdated if a new taxonomy is made available before the package is updated. You can obtain the latest eBird taxonomy by
new_tax <- ebirdtaxonomy()Search for bird occurrences by latitude and longitude point
ebirdgeo(species = species_code('spinus tristis'), lat = 42, lng = -76)## American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis): amegfi## # A tibble: 17 x 13
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L133… "545 R… 2021… 8 42.0 -76.1 TRUE
## 2 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L197… "esthe… 2021… 12 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 3 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L275… "Home " 2021… 8 42.1 -76.0 TRUE
## 4 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L109… "Hillc… 2021… 1 42.2 -75.9 TRUE
## 5 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L186… "Otsin… 2021… 1 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 6 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L895… "Nowla… 2021… 2 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 7 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L207… "Workw… 2021… 4 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 8 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L133… "4457 … 2021… 2 42.0 -75.9 TRUE
## 9 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L870… "325 D… 2021… 1 42.2 -76.0 TRUE
## 10 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L121… "1312 … 2021… 3 42.1 -76.0 TRUE
## 11 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L133… "216 W… 2021… 1 42.1 -76.0 TRUE
## 12 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L524… "Victo… 2021… 4 42.1 -76.0 TRUE
## 13 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L505… "Bolan… 2021… 1 42.2 -75.9 TRUE
## 14 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L850… "Sandy… 2021… 20 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 15 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L351… "Anson… 2021… 16 42.1 -76.1 TRUE
## 16 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L270… "Gripp… 2021… 1 42.1 -76.1 TRUE
## 17 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L564… "Kinne… 2021… 1 42.1 -76.2 TRUE
## # … with 3 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>, locationPrivate <lgl>,
## # subId <chr>Search for bird occurrences by region and species name
ebirdregion(loc = 'US', species = 'btbwar')## # A tibble: 81 x 13
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L577… Merrit… 2021… 1 28.6 -80.7 TRUE
## 2 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L863… 104 7t… 2021… 1 32.0 -80.8 TRUE
## 3 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L407… Thomps… 2021… 1 38.9 -77.1 TRUE
## 4 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L193… Rye 2021… 1 43.0 -70.8 TRUE
## 5 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L195… 1 My H… 2021… 1 27.0 -80.1 TRUE
## 6 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L104… Feathe… 2021… 1 25.6 -80.3 TRUE
## 7 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L324… Wither… 2021… 1 31.0 -82.9 TRUE
## 8 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L128… Zoo Mi… 2021… 1 25.6 -80.4 TRUE
## 9 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L992… Kendal… 2021… 1 25.7 -80.4 TRUE
## 10 btbwar Black-… Setoph… L133… 603 S … 2021… 1 26.2 -98.2 TRUE
## # … with 71 more rows, and 3 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>,
## # locationPrivate <lgl>, subId <chr>Search for bird occurrences by a given hotspot
ebirdregion(loc = 'L99381')## # A tibble: 38 x 13
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 cangoo Canada… Branta… L993… Stewar… 2021… 300 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 2 mallar3 Mallard Anas p… L993… Stewar… 2021… 20 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 3 commer Common… Mergus… L993… Stewar… 2021… 2 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 4 ribgul Ring-b… Larus … L993… Stewar… 2021… NA 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 5 hergul Herrin… Larus … L993… Stewar… 2021… NA 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 6 gbbgul Great … Larus … L993… Stewar… 2021… 3 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 7 baleag Bald E… Haliae… L993… Stewar… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 8 eursta Europe… Sturnu… L993… Stewar… 2021… 40 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 9 doccor Double… Phalac… L993… Stewar… 2021… 5 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## 10 ambduc Americ… Anas r… L993… Stewar… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.5 TRUE
## # … with 28 more rows, and 3 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>,
## # locationPrivate <lgl>, subId <chr>Search for a species’ occurrences near a given latitude and longitude
nearestobs(species_code('branta canadensis'), 42, -76)## Canada Goose (Branta canadensis): cangoo## # A tibble: 25 x 13
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 cangoo Canada… Branta… L109… Hillcr… 2021… 34 42.2 -75.9 TRUE
## 2 cangoo Canada… Branta… L186… Otsini… 2021… 117 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 3 cangoo Canada… Branta… L186… Cheri … 2021… 4 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 4 cangoo Canada… Branta… L809… Port D… 2021… 74 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 5 cangoo Canada… Branta… L527… R Tee … 2021… 100 42.2 -75.9 TRUE
## 6 cangoo Canada… Branta… L133… I-81 N… 2021… 45 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 7 cangoo Canada… Branta… L245… Water … 2021… 3 42.1 -75.9 TRUE
## 8 cangoo Canada… Branta… L116… Homest… 2021… 230 42.1 -76.0 TRUE
## 9 cangoo Canada… Branta… L106… IBM CC… 2021… 1 42.1 -76.0 TRUE
## 10 cangoo Canada… Branta… L273… Schnur… 2021… 2 42.1 -75.8 TRUE
## # … with 15 more rows, and 3 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>,
## # locationPrivate <lgl>, subId <chr>Search for notable sightings at a given latitude and longitude
ebirdnotable(lat = 42, lng = -70)## # A tibble: 3,578 x 13
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 foxsp1 Fox Sp… Passer… L382… Yard 2021… 1 42.2 -71.3 FALSE
## 2 foxsp1 Fox Sp… Passer… L276… Standi… 2021… 1 42.3 -71.3 FALSE
## 3 reshaw Red-sh… Buteo … L575… The 20… 2021… 1 44.2 -69.4 FALSE
## 4 gadwal Gadwall Mareca… L143… Holyok… 2021… 2 42.2 -72.6 FALSE
## 5 lbbgul Lesser… Larus … L106… Goulds… 2021… 1 42.2 -71.4 FALSE
## 6 pinwar Pine W… Setoph… L919… Northb… 2021… 1 42.1 -71.7 FALSE
## 7 bnhcow Brown-… Moloth… L825… Westwo… 2021… 1 42.2 -71.2 FALSE
## 8 comred Common… Acanth… L358… Fort H… 2021… 2 41.8 -70.0 FALSE
## 9 redcro10 Red Cr… Loxia … L480… West B… 2021… 2 41.7 -70.4 FALSE
## 10 foxsp1 Fox Sp… Passer… L276… Standi… 2021… 1 42.3 -71.3 FALSE
## # … with 3,568 more rows, and 3 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>,
## # locationPrivate <lgl>, subId <chr>or a region
ebirdnotable(locID = 'US-NY-109')## # A tibble: 81 x 13
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 blkvul Black … Coragy… L212… Steven… 2021… 1 42.4 -76.4 FALSE
## 2 redcro Red Cr… Loxia … L550… Cornel… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.5 FALSE
## 3 yerwar Yellow… Setoph… L351… Fuerte… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.5 FALSE
## 4 redcro Red Cr… Loxia … L123… Boyer … 2021… 5 42.3 -76.3 FALSE
## 5 whwcro White-… Loxia … L550… Cornel… 2021… 2 42.5 -76.5 FALSE
## 6 x00684 Canvas… Aythya… L140… East S… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.5 FALSE
## 7 x00684 Canvas… Aythya… L140… East S… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.5 FALSE
## 8 blksco2 Black … Melani… L353… Salt P… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.5 FALSE
## 9 evegro Evenin… Coccot… L133… 571 So… 2021… 17 42.3 -76.4 FALSE
## 10 hoared2 Hoary … Acanth… L686… George… 2021… 1 42.5 -76.3 FALSE
## # … with 71 more rows, and 3 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>,
## # locationPrivate <lgl>, subId <chr>Obtain a list of species reported on a specific date in a given region
ebirdhistorical(loc = 'US-VA-003', date = '2019-02-14',max = 10)## # A tibble: 10 x 13
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 cangoo Canada… Branta… L139… Lickin… 2019… 30 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 2 mallar3 Mallard Anas p… L139… Lickin… 2019… 5 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 3 gnwtea Green-… Anas c… L139… Lickin… 2019… 8 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 4 killde Killde… Charad… L139… Lickin… 2019… 1 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 5 baleag Bald E… Haliae… L139… Lickin… 2019… 1 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 6 belkin1 Belted… Megace… L139… Lickin… 2019… 1 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 7 carwre Caroli… Thryot… L139… Lickin… 2019… 1 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 8 whtspa White-… Zonotr… L139… Lickin… 2019… 2 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 9 norcar Northe… Cardin… L139… Lickin… 2019… 1 38.1 -78.7 TRUE
## 10 canvas Canvas… Aythya… L331… Montic… 2019… 19 38.0 -78.5 TRUE
## # … with 3 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>, locationPrivate <lgl>,
## # subId <chr>or a hotspot
ebirdhistorical(loc = 'L196159', date = '2019-02-14', fieldSet = 'full')## # A tibble: 14 x 27
## speciesCode comName sciName locId locName obsDt howMany lat lng obsValid
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <lgl>
## 1 annhum Anna's… Calypt… L196… Vancou… 2019… 4 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 2 ribgul Ring-b… Larus … L196… Vancou… 2019… 4 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 3 glwgul Glauco… Larus … L196… Vancou… 2019… 29 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 4 norcro Northw… Corvus… L196… Vancou… 2019… 100 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 5 bkcchi Black-… Poecil… L196… Vancou… 2019… 16 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 6 bushti Bushtit Psaltr… L196… Vancou… 2019… 20 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 7 pacwre1 Pacifi… Troglo… L196… Vancou… 2019… 1 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 8 houfin House … Haemor… L196… Vancou… 2019… 2 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 9 purfin Purple… Haemor… L196… Vancou… 2019… 3 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 10 amegfi Americ… Spinus… L196… Vancou… 2019… 15 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 11 daejun Dark-e… Junco … L196… Vancou… 2019… 37 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 12 sonspa Song S… Melosp… L196… Vancou… 2019… 12 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 13 spotow Spotte… Pipilo… L196… Vancou… 2019… 1 49.3 -123. TRUE
## 14 rewbla Red-wi… Agelai… L196… Vancou… 2019… 6 49.3 -123. TRUE
## # … with 17 more variables: obsReviewed <lgl>, locationPrivate <lgl>,
## # subId <chr>, subnational2Code <chr>, subnational2Name <chr>,
## # subnational1Code <chr>, subnational1Name <chr>, countryCode <chr>,
## # countryName <chr>, userDisplayName <chr>, obsId <chr>, checklistId <chr>,
## # presenceNoted <lgl>, hasComments <lgl>, firstName <chr>, lastName <chr>,
## # hasRichMedia <lgl>Obtain detailed information on any valid eBird region
ebirdregioninfo("CA-BC-GV")## # A tibble: 1 x 5
## region minX maxX minY maxY
## <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -123. -122. 49.0 49.6or hotspot
ebirdregioninfo("L196159")## # A tibble: 1 x 16
## locId name latitude longitude countryCode countryName subnational1Name
## <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <chr> <chr> <chr>
## 1 L196… Vanc… 49.3 -123. CA Canada British Columbia
## # … with 9 more variables: subnational1Code <chr>, subnational2Code <chr>,
## # subnational2Name <chr>, isHotspot <lgl>, locName <chr>, lat <dbl>,
## # lng <dbl>, hierarchicalName <chr>, locID <chr>Obtain a list of eBird species codes for all species recorded in a region
ebirdregionspecies("GB-ENG-LND")## # A tibble: 304 x 1
## speciesCode
## <chr>
## 1 bahgoo
## 2 snogoo
## 3 gragoo
## 4 gwfgoo
## 5 tunbeg1
## 6 pifgoo
## 7 brant
## 8 bargoo
## 9 cangoo
## 10 rebgoo1
## # … with 294 more rowsor a hotspot
ebirdregionspecies("L5803024")## # A tibble: 156 x 1
## speciesCode
## <chr>
## 1 gragoo
## 2 gwfgoo
## 3 bargoo
## 4 cangoo
## 5 mutswa
## 6 egygoo
## 7 comshe
## 8 manduc
## 9 gargan
## 10 norsho
## # … with 146 more rowsObtain a list of all subregions within an eBird region
ebirdsubregionlist("subnational1","US")## # A tibble: 51 x 2
## code name
## <chr> <chr>
## 1 US-AL Alabama
## 2 US-AK Alaska
## 3 US-AZ Arizona
## 4 US-AR Arkansas
## 5 US-CA California
## 6 US-CO Colorado
## 7 US-CT Connecticut
## 8 US-DE Delaware
## 9 US-DC District of Columbia
## 10 US-FL Florida
## # … with 41 more rowsObtain a list of checklists submitted on a given date at a region or hotspot
ebirdchecklistfeed(loc = "L207391", date = "2020-03-24", max = 5)## # A tibble: 5 x 8
## locId subId userDisplayName numSpecies obsDt obsTime subID loc
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <int> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
## 1 L2073… S6617… David Wood 10 24 M… 14:47 S661… L207391,Mt. Aub…
## 2 L2073… S6617… Sofia Prado-Irw… 15 24 M… 14:31 S661… L207391,Mt. Aub…
## 3 L2073… S6619… Jeffrey Gantz 19 24 M… 13:30 S661… L207391,Mt. Aub…
## 4 L2073… S6617… Ann Gurka 21 24 M… 13:00 S661… L207391,Mt. Aub…
## 5 L2073… S7098… Barbara Olson 20 24 M… 10:30 S709… L207391,Mt. Aub…Obtain a list of hotspots within a region
ebirdhotspotlist("CA-NS-HL")## # A tibble: 220 x 9
## locId locName countryCode subnational1Code subnational2Code lat lng
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 L233… Abraha… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 45.2 -62.6
## 2 L700… Admira… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.7 -63.7
## 3 L176… Admira… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.8 -63.1
## 4 L584… Albro … CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.7 -63.6
## 5 L437… Aldern… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.7 -63.6
## 6 L122… Armdal… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.6 -63.6
## 7 L624… Atlant… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.7 -63.3
## 8 L239… Bald R… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.5 -63.6
## 9 L759… Bayers… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.6 -63.7
## 10 L642… Beaufo… CA CA-NS CA-NS-HL 44.7 -63.5
## # … with 210 more rows, and 2 more variables: latestObsDt <chr>,
## # numSpeciesAllTime <int>or within a radius of up to 50 kilometers, from a given set of coordinates.
ebirdhotspotlist(lat = 30, lng = -90, dist = 10)## No region code provided, locating hotspots using lat/lng## # A tibble: 52 x 9
## locId locName countryCode subnational1Code subnational2Code lat lng
## <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 L602… Algier… US US-LA US-LA-071 30.0 -90.1
## 2 L388… Armstr… US US-LA US-LA-071 30.0 -90.1
## 3 L727… Audubo… US US-LA US-LA-071 30.0 -90.0
## 4 L666… BAEA N… US US-LA US-LA-087 30.0 -90.0
## 5 L666… BAEA N… US US-LA US-LA-071 29.9 -90.0
## 6 L242… Bayou … US US-LA US-LA-071 30.0 -90.0
## 7 L725… Bayou … US US-LA US-LA-071 30.1 -89.9
## 8 L727… Chalme… US US-LA US-LA-087 29.9 -90.0
## 9 L453… City P… US US-LA US-LA-071 30.0 -90.1
## 10 L522… City P… US US-LA US-LA-071 30.0 -90.1
## # … with 42 more rows, and 2 more variables: latestObsDt <chr>,
## # numSpeciesAllTime <int>