DiscoverLife List: A Birding PodcastInside eBird: The world’s biggest birding project with Brian Sullivan
Inside eBird: The world’s biggest birding project with Brian Sullivan

Inside eBird: The world’s biggest birding project with Brian Sullivan

Update: 2025-11-01
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This episode, we’re joined by Brian Sullivan—birder, photographer, and co-leader of one of the most transformative projects in the birding world: eBird. From the earliest red-tailed hawk obsessions to building a global platform used by millions, Brian shares stories that bridge fieldwork, data, and wonder.

Highlights include:

  • How eBird grew from a niche experiment to a cornerstone of global ornithology
  • Red-tailed hawks, pelagics, and what it means to really know a species
  • The evolution of Birds of the World and where bird data is headed next
  • Balancing tech, fieldwork, and the joy of birdwatching

Come for the redtails and migration maps…stay for the big-picture vision that’s shaping the future of birding.

Get more Life list by subscribing to our newsletter and joining our Patreon for bonus content. Talk to us and share your topic ideas at lifelistpodcast.com.

Thanks to Kowa Optics for sponsoring our podcast! Want to know more about us? Check out George's company, Hillstar Nature; Alvaro's company, Alvaro's Adventures, and Mollee's company, Nighthawk Agency, to see more about what we're up to.

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Inside eBird: The world’s biggest birding project with Brian Sullivan

Inside eBird: The world’s biggest birding project with Brian Sullivan

George Armistead, Alvaro Jaramillo, and Mollee Brown