The strength of the AKN lies in its varied and widely diverse bird datasets.  Monitoring bird populations at scale require data from varied geographic levels.  From the observations of backyard birders to rigorous scientific datasets gathered by seasoned field biologists, at the AKN we welcome the chance to collaborate with any group collecting observational data on birds.  No data set is too small, and none is too big.

We do not offer an automated process for contributing data online, rather we work with you and your database administrators directly to bring your data into the AKN.  This can happen in two different ways, both of which start with directly communicating with us at ebird@cornell.edu.  From here we can decide how to proceed with bringing your data into the AKN; the key factors being how large the data set is, whether yours is an on-going project and whether you will require real-time data harvesting.

Contributing your dataset to the AKN can be as simple as sending us an excel file containing your records, or as advanced as installing software on your local server that allows us to harvest data at regular intervals from your database. To find out more explore the links to the right.