eBird and similar birding applications have become extremely popular in recent years. Especially among birders, but increasingly also among wildlife photographers.
And honestly, it is easy to understand why.
It is enjoyable to keep track of what you have seen during trips and outings. The application travels with you everywhere, old species lists are easy to revisit later, and observations become part of a personal history in nature. In many ways, it is a brilliant tool.
For many people, shared sightings are also an important part of the hobby itself. It is exciting to discover new species based on observations from others and use these applications to plan your own outings. I have certainly benefited from other people sharing information many times over the years.
But at the same time, I often wonder how many people stop to think about what sharing exact locations can actually mean.
Many applications explain that researchers benefit from highly accurate location data. And in some cases, that is absolutely true. But realistically, how often does someone truly need the exact nesting tree or exact coordinates of a breeding site? In many situations, regional or municipality-level information would likely be enough.
This becomes especially important during spring nesting season and with rare species.
When Certain Birds Become Too Easy to Find
Some birds naturally attract large numbers of people. Especially owls, some birds of prey, and visually impressive species. The rarer the species, the larger the crowd.
The problem is usually not one individual person.
Most people behave well and genuinely care about wildlife. A single short visit is rarely a disaster on its own. The issue is the cumulative effect.
Years ago, information about a rare bird might have been shared with a few friends. Today, the exact location can spread to thousands of people almost instantly.
And suddenly a small forest road is filled with parked cars. Private driveways become blocked. Farmyards fill with visitors. Local businesses and residents may suddenly have dozens or hundreds of strangers arriving near their homes or even to their backyards.
Unfortunately, there are many stories of situations where a handful of careless decisions create problems for everyone else.
Unfortunately, excitement around a rare bird sometimes makes people forget that wildlife observation does not override normal respect for private property, local residents, or common sense.
When Sharing a Location Stops Being Harmless
Many people treat location sharing very lightly today. It has become so normal that many think it no longer really matters. But from experience, I can say that it does matter.
One of our guides once found an excellent capercaillie location. It was not widely known, and only a few of our clients visited the place. At that time, nobody else was going there. Then one day, a client decided to add the location to eBird (even it is denied). The very next morning, several people were already walking around the area looking for the bird.
In the past, a good location might have been shared with one trusted friend. Today, those “trusted friends” can instantly become thousands — sometimes hundreds of thousands — of people receiving the information in real time. That changes things very quickly.
There is also another side to this that people rarely talk about. It slowly removes the foundation from companies like ours that spend years doing the fieldwork needed to find reliable places for wildlife photography and birding. It is difficult to understand why people are willing to pay for guided tours and professional knowledge, while at the same time publicly sharing the exact locations that make those trips possible in the first place.
Honestly, if you want to participate in guided wildlife tours, then do not share locations publicly. Guided trips only exist because somebody has spent years building local knowledge, understanding animal behaviour, and finding places that work responsibly and consistently. If every location is instantly distributed online to massive audiences, that foundation disappears completely. Eventually, the professional knowledge behind these trips loses much of its value.
So does sharing a location matter? In my opinion, clearly it does.
Rare Birds Are Often Already Under Pressure
Another thing people sometimes forget is that many rare birds are not necessarily in a normal situation to begin with.
Usually there is a reason why the species is rare in that particular area. The bird may be far outside its normal range, exhausted after long flights, or struggling to find food in unfamiliar surroundings.
In those situations, large crowds can become a real problem. Constant movement, people approaching too closely, and photographers repeatedly repositioning themselves may interrupt feeding attempts or force the bird to move unnecessarily.
For a tired or hungry bird, wasted energy matters.
And honestly, this is where wildlife observation sometimes starts moving in the wrong direction.
At times it feels like the most important thing becomes getting the observation recorded, adding another species to a personal list, or getting a closer photograph than somebody else. Meanwhile the condition of the bird itself becomes secondary.
But ideally the welfare of the animal should always come first — especially when the bird is already vulnerable.
Nesting Season Is Where Real Damage Happens
Spring brings another concern: nesting birds.
At this time of year, many observations are directly connected to breeding sites. And at the same time, more and more people enter nature without necessarily understanding how sensitive some species can be to disturbance.
People want to see the bird closely. They want a photograph. Sometimes people simply want proof that they saw the bird — even just a quick phone picture.
The problem again is often not one single person. It becomes a problem when exact locations spread rapidly through applications, local groups, and social media — bringing constant attention to the same nesting site day after day.
If dozens of people visit the same nesting area during a day, disturbance becomes constant. Some species are sensitive enough to abandon the nest entirely if they feel repeatedly threatened.
For others, the problem is more indirect. Time away from the nest means eggs or chicks may become exposed to cold weather for too long. In difficult feeding conditions, repeated disturbance may also reduce the amount of time adults spend hunting or bringing food to their young.
And often the biggest problem is that people simply do not recognize the warning signs.
Without understanding bird behaviour or the sensitivities of certain species, it is very easy to cause stress without realizing it. A bird may appear calm to humans while still changing its behaviour completely because people are too close.
Stress in wildlife is often invisible to humans.
And because of that, many people leave believing they caused no problem at all.
Owls Are a Good Example
Owls are perhaps one of the clearest examples.
Even people with little previous interest in birds often want to see one. And understandably so. Owls feel mysterious and special.
Once a nesting location becomes public, people may start visiting the site continuously for days or weeks. Some photographers stay in the area for long periods of time, and unfortunately some people still approach nests far too closely without fully understanding the stress this may cause to the birds.
Some highly desired species already receive partial protection in certain applications. For example, species like the Great Grey Owl may sometimes only appear inside a larger area box instead of revealing the exact nesting location.
That is a good step.
But many species still remain completely unprotected, and exact nest/lekking locations may still appear publicly with very precise locations.
And once that information spreads, nobody can really control what happens next.
A Problem Few People Think About
One thing many people never consider is egg theft.
It may sound outdated, but illegal egg collecting still exists today. Rare eggs continue to have value among illegal collectors, and in Europe there have been cases where eggs of rare owls and birds of prey were sold for hundreds or even thousands of euros.
When well-meaning birders publicly share exact nest locations, they may unknowingly make the work extremely easy for the wrong people.
A nest visited openly during the day can become a target during the night.
Responsibility Belongs to All of Us
This is not an argument against eBird or against sharing observations entirely.
These applications are valuable. They help birders, photographers, and researchers alike.
But people should probably think more carefully about the consequences of sharing exact locations publicly.
For personal bird lists and memories, exact coordinates are often unnecessary. During trips, even a municipality or village-level location is usually enough to remember where the observation happened. And realistically, broader location data is also sufficient for many research purposes.
So perhaps it is worth asking a simple question before uploading an observation:
Does this bird really need its exact location shared publicly?
Especially when visiting nesting birds, owls, birds of prey, or rare species, hiding the precise location is often the more responsible choice.
Maybe next time, instead of marking the exact tree, forest road, or nesting site, we simply mark the nearest village or general area.
Bird towers and well-known public observation sites are naturally a different situation entirely.
Unfortunately, these applications often seem far more interested in growing activity and engagement than seriously protecting sensitive wildlife locations.
And because the platforms themselves are often unwilling to fully take responsibility for wildlife welfare, that responsibility ultimately remains with us — the people using them.
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