![\"Tropicbirds\"](\"http:\/\/cornellsailing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/20072220438_c9276c0b22_b.jpg\")
<\/a>Tropicbirds are commonly reported to the Birding Aboard project, perhaps because they are so elegant and have a habit of circling the mast. Photo Ellen Massey Leonard.<\/p><\/div>\n
The \u201cSeaBC\u201d is a citizen science project coordinated by long-distance birdwatching sailors from around the world at\u00a0www.birdingaboard.org<\/a>.\u00a0Sailors taking part in the Odyssey sailing rallies are encouraged to join in the SeaBC project.\u00a0<\/p>\n A tiny Blackpoll Warbler, a migrant between Canada and South America, rests in the cockpit of s\/v Cinderella about 20 miles o\ufb00 the Florida coast. Photo Jaye Lunsford.<\/p><\/div>\n Reports are contributed to Cornell University\u2019s eBird database (www.ebird.org<\/a>), so their\u00a0sightings become a resource for scientists and conservationists worldwide. Participation is designed to be simple for non-birders juggling navigation and boat-handling. They are simply asked to photograph any birds seen at least two miles from shore, followed by a snapshot of their navigation display\u2019s coordinates if their camera is not geo-tagged.<\/p>\n Taking a quick photo of the boat’s position is an easy way to record where you have seen the bird.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThe reports and photographs that are starting to come in are phenomenal,\u201d says founder Diana Doyle. \u201cInexpensive portable zoom cameras let scientists tap into the sightings of recreational boats as they transit seldom-birded waters. They can be our eyes on the water.\u201d<\/p>\n Because there is so little coverage of pelagic areas, the odds are high for a \u201cbirder aboard\u201d to contribute a notable sighting.<\/p>\n Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n A rare white Gyrfalcon spotted among the cli\ufb00s and icebergs of the Northwest Passage. Photo Doina Cornell<\/p><\/div>\n A striking capture of a fast flying ocean bird, a Trindade Petrel at home a thousand miles from shore. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Photo Michael Sammer.<\/p><\/div>\n A Brown Noddy claims a radome as its perch halfway between Ascension Island and Barbados. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Photo Ellen Massey Leonard<\/p><\/div>\n Although the majority of SeaBC reports are not flagged as eBird rarities, the regular sightings hold equal value. Because sailors\u00a0pass by inaccessible island nesting sites, many reports have notably high counts of common species. Reports of tropic birds, boobies, noddies, gulls, terns, auks, puffins, fulmars \u2014 along\u00a0 with photographs of difficult-to-identify shearwaters and albatrosses \u2014 make up the bulk of the Birding Aboard project. These include reports such as Black-footed Albatrosses off the Alaska coast, summer breeding flocks of Dovekies in Arctic waters, Iceland Gulls in winter off New England, migrating Phalaropes off Newfoundland, Yellow-nosed Albatross off South Africa, Cory\u2019s Shearwater off Morocco, and Fea’s Petrel off Cape Verdes. All these reports help fill in distribution and abundance data in under-birded areas.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>\n
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