Six years ago, a group of birdwatchers in Europe came up with the idea to create a non-profit, free international platform where birdwatchers could share and describe their favourite birding areas. That idea turned out to be right on the mark. This week site number 10,000 was described and published on Birdingplaces.
The idea didn't just come about out of nowhere. Only 10 years ago finding reliable and detailed information about birdwatching areas was hard to do in almost all countries. Yes, there were websites where you could find information. But often the info was fragmented, incomplete, or outdated. Websites like e-Bird were certainly useful, but provided hardly any information on how to visit an area. It was clear: a detailed and up-to-date site guide for birdwatching simply didn't exist online. We were eager to change that, and that is how Birdingplaces hatched.
There was also an important side-goal. We wanted Birdingplaces to contribute to the protection of birds by spreading enthusiasm about birdwatching with a lot of people. Because the more people watch birds, the greater the support base for bird protection will be. Therefore we chose, 'Enjoy and Protect!' as one of our slogans, and we encourage users to support Birdlife International or a national Birdlife partner.
And so we set to work to realize Birdingplaces. After a 3 month pilot, the site was officially launched in January 2020. The basic principle was that every birder would be able to share his/her own favourite birding area or local patch. Usability was central to the design of the website. Adding an new area to Birdingplaces was made easy by a simple step-by-step template. One of the innovations was the way users could very easily create a detailed map of the area to supplement the description. On the map, you could mark a walking route, bird hide, viewpoint, parking lot, and other useful information. This allowed birders to design a beautiful personal page about their favourite birding area.
It seemed as if many birders had been waiting for a platform like Birdingplaces, because users started adding birding sites right from the start. Within the very first months, hundreds of birding areas had already been described.
Birdingplaces grew rapidly. First in Europe, but following requests from birders from other parts of the world, we made it possible in 2022 to add areas worldwide. And that proved to be a good move. New users flocked in from Australia to Africa, and from America to Asia. By mid-March 2026, the milestone of 10,000 described birdwatching areas worldwide was reached! All areas described in detail by local birders and containing a wealth of information for birdwatching.
Birdingplaces founder Chris van der Heijden: ‘I am incredibly proud that our community has been able to reach this milestone in six years. I know the amount of work that went into those 10,000 described areas was enormous. Therefore I would like to thank all our volunteer editors and everyone who has shared a birding area on Birdingplaces for their contribution. And I also want to thank the tens of thousands of birders from all over the world who have joined us. I think it’s awesome how fast we have grown in these six years. Together we have created a huge worldwide site guide for birdwatching. A rich resource and a place where birders can share their knowledge, and their love for birds and nature. And new areas are still being added every day. It’s wonderful to have seen that happen. I hope that Birdingplaces will continue to inspire many more new people to discover the joy of birdwatching in the future.’
- We continue to improve Birdingplaces every day. But we also need your help…
great if you support the Birdingplaces community!
- > Support Birdingplaces with a donation. We can only keep the website running if we receive enough donations from our users. We appreciate it very much if you support us. Thank you in advance! You can donate here.
- > Add a new birding area to Birdingplaces. Is your favourite birding area or local patch not listed yet? Every birder can add a new area. To start adding an area click here.
- > Join us as a Country Editor or Admin. Join our team of volunteers! You help to edit, update and review areas in your country or state and help to promote Birdingplaces. Click here for more info.
- > Buy a bird T-shirt in our webshop. The proceeds benefit Birdingplaces. All shirts are made from organically produced fabrics. Go to our webshop here.
- > Spread the word, and get other people excited about Birdingplaces! Follow Birdingplaces or share the posts on Blue Sky, Instagram or Twitter.
New features
Over the past few years, Birdingplaces has added many new and useful features to enhance ease of use, such as:
- > The 100 best birding areas in every country
- > Find a Bird
- > Create your own page with favorite birding areas
- > Handy feedback tools
- > Share your bird photos
- > Great birding areas In The Spotlight
#EnjoyAndProtect!
