Hotspots
Virginia has thousands of eBird hotspots, which run the gamut from roadside farm ponds and tiny town parks right on up to nationally known birding destinations such as Chincoteague NWR and Back Bay NWR. One of our main goals at Birding Virginia is to provide a useful compendium of information on when, where, and how to bird all of these hotspots. Individual hotspot write-ups can be accessed through our county portals, which you can find here, or by selecting “Hotspots By County” from the menu at left. On the county profiles, hotspots with content will appear in blue, while those which have yet to be written will appear in red and link directly to the eBird page for that hotspots. Don’t see anything written for your favorite birding spot? Maybe you’re the perfect person to contribute that information! Compiling birding info on thousands of hotspots across the state is a gargantuan task, and we can’t do it alone, so any and all contributions are valuable. For some more general information on what hotspots are and how to use them, read on below.
What is a hotspot?
For many birders, the word "hotspot" brings to mind a renowned birding location like Chincoteague, Huntley Meadows Park, or Back Bay. When thinking about eBird hotspots, however, it is important to remember that the term has a slightly different meaning. While many hotspots are prime birding locations, they don't always have to be. At the most basic level, hotspots serve as tools for aggregating eBird data to simplify data display. In other words, rather than have the map cluttered by fifteen personal location pins at a small city park, a hotspot allows all of those reports to be consolidated in one easily viewable location pin.
This is important to keep in mind when figuring out how to use hotspots. Sometimes, people are disappointed to find that a hotspot they visit is not an outstanding birding location. While hotspots can be excellent tools for planning birding outings, especially in unfamiliar counties, keep in mind that they are not meant to be a substitute for other research and planning. Sometimes you will find great birding locations that aren't hotspots. Conversely, sometimes you will find hotspots that consolidate data but aren't particularly outstanding birding locations. Knowing this ahead of time will help you avoid being disappointed if you travel to a hotspot and find out it isn't the best place to see lots of birds.
What kinds of locations should be hotspots?
When thinking about whether to suggest a location as a hotspot, keep in mind the primary function of hotspots as data aggregation tools. Any location that is likely to be used by multiple birders could be a candidate for a hotspot. This includes, but is not limited to, parks, wildlife refuges, cemeteries, college campuses, and more. Generally speaking, hotspots should be publicly accessible locations. This is not always the case, as some private locations that allow limited access to birders, such as Craney Island, are still appropriate hotspots. In these cases, the regional hotspot reviewer will include language in the hotspot name to indicate limited access. In some cases, however, hotspots that are generally public may have certain restrictions on access, such as seasonal closings, restricted hours, or the need for birders to call ahead for access. For locations like this, the eBird hotspot function does not currently have a good way to display this information. Many times, you can find this information on your own with a bit of research, but one of the goals of this page is to provide a resource for birders to find out more detailed information about hotspots than can be displayed in eBird.
How do I suggest an eBird hotspot?
If you stumble across a location that you believe should be a hotspot, consider suggesting it for the regional hotspot editor to review. Please think carefully about whether this location really meets the criteria for a hotspot. If you believe it does, you can suggest it as a hotspot using the "Manage My Locations" page under "My eBird." To do this, find the location in your list and select it. Beneath the location name, you should see a link for "suggest as hotspot." Clicking this link will send a request to the regional hotspot editor. You can also suggest a hotspot by clicking "Edit" on the far right in the main list of locations. Please remember that hotspot editors are volunteers, and it may take some time to evaluate and approve your suggestions. Please also remember that approving new hotspots is done at the discretion of the hotspot editor, and they may choose not to accept your suggestion if it does not conform to the eBird hotspot guidelines.
How should I use hotspots?
Using hotspots when you bird helps create a resource for other birders. It makes the display maps more effective by consolidating data points, and individual hotspot profiles can help other birders with their research and planning for birding trips. Of course, these tools only work if you submit your data using the appropriate hotspot. Whether you are using eBird mobile or submitting from your computer, please try to see if the location you were birding at has a hotspot. If so, please consider using the hotspot! If you have forgotten to do so in the past, it is also possible to merge your personal location with an existing hotspot using the "Merge" function when viewing an individual location in "Manage My Locations." When doing this, please be sure that your location correctly corresponds with the chosen hotspot.
When submitting data to hotspots, please take the extra time to make sure you have chosen the correct hotspot for the location where you were birding. Using an incorrect hotspot can be misleading for birders or researchers trying to use your data. In some instances, large places such as Chincoteague NWR will offer a variety of sub-hotspots for more specific locations, such as Chincoteague NWR--Tom's Cove. If possible, try to do several smaller checklists for more specific locations, as this makes the data you submit more precise. Of course, don't select a more specific hotspot if you plan to enter observations from a larger area.
Please also try to be cognizant of the boundaries of a hotspot. If you are birding at a city park, and then travel a few miles to a different location with different habitat, it is not appropriate to include observations from the second location in the hotspot. It's worth the extra time to close the checklist for your hotspot and start a new one at the second location, as this will help ensure that the information submitted to a hotspot is accurate and usable for others.
Finally, with staked out rarities that are chased by many birders, the regional hotspot editor will often try to create a "stakeout" hotspot to avoid the shotgun-pattern of personal locations that will show up on the maps otherwise. While the editors try to be quick about setting up these hotspots, it is not always possible to create them before birders have chased a rarity. In these instances, please try to go back and merge your personal location with the stakeout hotspot. When chasing a rarity, please consider checking to see if a stakeout hotspot is available before creating a personal location. These hotspots follow a standard naming format, which will look like this: "stakeout Snowy Owl, Rushville Road (2013)."
Hotspot resources
If you need clarification on any of the information about hotspots, please consider looking over some of eBird’s guidelines on how to use them: