Mapping the world's birds, one tap at a time

People who enjoy watching for birds can now put their eagle eyes to good use.

The eBird app, created by Cornell University's ornithology lab, lets app users log their bird sightings, creating "one of the largest models we have of global bird abundance and diversity," according to Emily Rondel, Toronto project coordinator at Bird Studies Canada.

• Canada isn't getting a national bird after all
• Danger in the city for songbirds

People from hundreds of countries around the world use eBird to keep track of which birds they see, said Rondelin an interview on Metro Morning.

Entry by entry, it creates a picture of"what birds are around, where they are, where they're not, how they're moving through the landscape," she explained.

Scientists can then put that data to a range of uses, including conservation work.

"eBird data has become so good and so accurate in the Americas that we can track the full life cycle of populations of birds and watch them in real time as they kind of flow over the continents," said Rondel.

She recommendspeople who are newer to watching birds also download the Merlin Bird ID app, which guides users through a series of questions to help them figure out which species they are seeing.

Beyond logging their own sightings, the app also helps bird enthusiasts find the birds they want to catch a glimpse of. The app allowsusers to search a specific birdand pull up maps that show where the birds have been spotted in the past.