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.
Finding good and detailed information about birdwatching areas was lacking 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 But often the info was fragmented, incomplete, or outdated.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 handy, but provided hardly any information on how to visit an area. There was room for improvement!
And, on top of that, we wanted to contribute to bird conservation by getting more people enthusiastic about birdwatching. Because the more people watch birds, the greater the support base for bird protection will be. That is why our slogan became ‘Enjoy and Protect!’
And so we set to work to realize the platform. Birdingplaces was officially launched in January 2020. The basic principle was that every birder could add their own favourite birding area or local patch in 8 steps using a simple template. What was innovative was that every user could very easily create a detailed map of the area to accompany it. 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 site like Birdingplaces, because users started adding birding sites right from the start. Hundreds of birding areas were described in detail within the first few months.
Birdingplaces started in Europe and grew rapidly. But it didn't stop there. Following frequent requests from birders from other parts of the world, it became possible in 2022 to add areas outside Europe as well. And that, too, proved to be the right move. New users flocked in from Australia to Africa, and from America to Asia. By mid-March 2026, we reached the fantastic milestone of 10,000 described birdwatching areas worldwide! All described in detail by local birders and containing a wealth of information for birdwatching.
We are incredibly proud that we have been able to reach this milestone in six years. Tens of thousands of birders from all over the world have since joined us and actively use the site to find great birding areas. And we are not resting on our laurels. Over the past few years, we have added various useful features to enhance ease of use, such as:
- > The 100 best birding areas in every country
- > Find a Bird
- > Your own page with favorite birding areas
- > Handy feedback tools
- > Share your bird photos
- And we continue to work hard to improve Birdingplaces even further. But we also need your help…
great if you support the Birdingplaces community!
- > Support us financially with a donation. We can only keep the website running if we receive enough donations from our users. Thank you in advance!
- > Add a birding area to Birdingplaces. Is your favourite birding area or local patch not listed yet? If you add an area before April 1, 2026, you can now win a pair of top binoculars from our sponsor Leica!
- > Become a Country Editor or State Editor at Birdingplaces and help out as a volunteer to edit, update and review areas in your country or state on the map.
- > Buy a nice bird T-shirt in our webshop. The proceeds benefit Birdingplaces.
- > Follow us or share our posts on social media. Spread the word about us, and get other people excited about Birdingplaces!
