How to read a bird map

A bird map is only as useful as it is honest. On BirdMap, every mark you see belongs to a labeled layer, and we never let one layer masquerade as another. Here is how to read what you're looking at.

Sightings are real dots

The warm coral points are observations — a real person recorded a real bird at a real place and time. Each one is a research-grade record from iNaturalist, shared through GBIF. If a dot is there, a bird was there. Tap one to see the species and jump to its page.

Sightings tell you where a species has actually been found. They don't tell you everywhere it lives — people look where people go, so roadsides and parks light up while remote country stays dark. That's a map of effort as much as of birds, and it's worth keeping in mind.

Modeled layers are estimates, and they say so

A modeled layer, shown in muted blue and always labeled, is a computed guess at where a species is likely to be — filling the gaps between sightings using habitat and season. It is coarse and it can be wrong. We keep it visually distinct from real sightings on purpose: an estimate should never look like a fact. When a model layer isn't ready for a species, we simply don't show one.

Community and historical layers

Community marks come from birders sharing their own sightings. Sensitive species are blurred automatically, and exact locations appear only when the person who posted them chooses to share them — we never burn a nest or a roost. Historical records, where we have them, are older observations that give a sense of a species' past range.

Putting it together

The most useful read combines layers: real sightings to confirm a bird is around, a timing chart to know when, and a range sense to know where to look. Start on the map, or pick a species and check its seasonal timing on any bird page.