In Praise of the eBird Quiz

We’re bird quiz-aholics. If there’s a bird quiz online, chances are we’ve taken it. We pore through bird photo Flickr pages and cover up species names to quiz ourselves. On our laptop, you’ll find folders labeled “Wren Calls” and “Warbler Chips,” from which we frequently pop-quiz each other.

Say, which wren’s scold is this?

Okay, is this a Hermit or Black-throated Gray chip note?

We even make our own bird quizzes.
 
Not only are quizzes fun, but they’re fantastic for learning. They’re also a perfect way to be “I’m Birding Right Now” at night or when stuck inside on a stormy day. Naturally, we were excited when eBird launched their quiz feature last April. It was love at first sight!!!
 
The eBird Quiz is unlike any other quiz we’ve seen. The ability to narrow a quiz’s scope to a specified location and time of year is unmatched. Quiz content is pulled directly from The Macaulay Library (Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s media database) which currently contains over 10 million photos and audio recordings. And, with eBirders uploading thousands of files every day, available material for the eBird Quiz grows constantly.
 
Here’s how it works: The quiz-taker selects:

• • A place: A country, a county, or a hotspot, etc.
  • A date: “Today” or “year-round,” etc.
  • Photos or sounds

eBird then serves up 20 photos or audio recordings based on the selections. The photos and audio are of various qualities – just like the ever-changing conditions you’d get in the field. Four multiple-choice answers are shown, along with a “None of the Above” option. It’s so simple, yet so dynamic.
 
We’re especially fond of the sound quiz. As we listen to a recording, we follow along with the spectrogram while considering options.

Oh, that sounds like a Northern Flicker. But wait… Is that a White-breasted Nuthatch calling in the background at 34 seconds?

Well, eBird’s got us covered. After clicking an answer for the target bird, eBird reveals if our answer is correct and allows us to click through to the checklist from which the recording came. There, we can confirm that indeed the eBirder listed two White-breasted Nuthatches that same birding session! We shouldn’t pat ourselves on the back too hard though… we’ve got 19 more vocalizations to go.

Sometimes the checklist we click on is filled with great recordings and we get sidetracked listening to all of them! Heck, maybe we even click over to the eBirder’s profile, and now we’re staring at the 8,315 recordings by Paul Marvin – a new hero we never knew we had, all because of the eBird Quiz!

Whew! After getting sidetracked, we inevitably realize we’ve still only answered ONE question. We assign a 1-5 rating to the audio recording – then it’s on to question two. Once we’ve completed 20 questions, eBird summarizes our results and separates out the incorrect answers, allowing us to review our mistakes. We’ll be darned if the eBird Quiz isn’t the best learning tool short of actually being out in the field!
 
The ability to select a specific location and time of year makes the eBird Quiz a powerful tool when preparing for an out-of-town birding trip. Last summer, we went birding and camping with our local bird club in the Sierras. Being unfamiliar with many of the local birds’ vocalizations, we fired up the eBird Quiz, set the location to Sierra County, and quizzed ourselves repeatedly. It was a great feeling when, on our first day at the campground, we recognized a MacGillivray’s Warbler’s song before even seeing the bird!

Doing eBird Quizzes has led to some “a-ha!” moments. A common sound high in the forest canopy around our house is a high-pitched, piping “Pip-pip! Pip-pip! Pip-pip!” Before we knew the identity of this mystery bird, we repeatedly scanned the treetops in vain – back arched, neck craned, eyes drying out.

We’ve GOT to figure out this sound!!

Finally, one night during a sound quiz, the vexing pips burst from – not the trees – but our laptop speakers! Pygmy Nuthatches! Our mystery was solved, all thanks to an eBird Quiz.

Sometimes, during a sound quiz, we hear a vocalization and a strange déjà vu feeling washes over us…

Hmm, this feels familiar… I’m getting a flashback of standing near the blackberry patch at the start of West County Trail…

Oh! That’s because this is OUR recording of a Fox Sparrow singing from the blackberry patch at the start of West County Trail!

It’s neat to be reminded that each audio file we upload to a checklist is added to the ever-growing pool of sounds for the eBird Quiz. We delight in the thought of a fellow quiz-taker listening to this 12-minute recording of a California Towhee outside our window – a bird we hear singing its heart out every day. (Don’t give up, Mr. Cal-T, you’ll find a lady soon!)

eBird requires the quiz-taker to rate each photo or audio recording, which improves the value of The Macaulay Library’s collection. In order to entice even more people to take the quiz and rate media, we’d love to see eBird expand its functionality even more. It would be great to further filter a quiz by:

• • Type of vocalization: Call, song, non-vocal
  • Family or genus: Troglodytidae, Parulidae, Empidonax, Spizella
  • Location of photo or recording: Only photos taken in Sonoma County, or only audio recordings from Costa Rica
  • A pair or collection of selected bird species or sexes: Western versus Semipalmated Sandpipers, or female Blue-winged versus Cinnamon Teals

Though additional filters could improve the eBird Quiz, we certainly do not underestimate the value it already brings to the birding community. We’ve improved our ID skills, prepared for out-of-town birding trips, discovered other eBirders’ impressive media collections, and rated thousands of photos and recordings. Perhaps most importantly, we’ve had a ton of fun while becoming better birders!
 
If you haven’t yet tried it out, we encourage you to take the eBird Quiz for a spin!