Help & FAQ

Yes — a free account is required to search for birds. The account stores your eBird API key and (optionally) your life list so the app can personalise results for you across sessions.

Anyone can view a shared target list without an account — so if a friend sends you a link, you can open it freely.

Two things:

• An email address and password
• A free eBird account and API key (explained in the next section)

Setup takes about two minutes in total.

When My Next Lifer searches for recent bird sightings, it's actually asking eBird's database for that information on your behalf. An API key is simply a unique password that identifies who is making that request — think of it like a library card that lets you check books out.

eBird requires every app or website that uses their data to authenticate with a key. Using your own personal key means:

• Your searches stay within your own personal allowance — never affecting anyone else's
• You remain in direct control of your own eBird access
• My Next Lifer never stores or uses your eBird login credentials

Your key is stored securely in your account and is only ever used to run your own searches.

You'll need a free eBird account first — if you don't have one, create one at ebird.org.

Your key is stored securely in your account and is only ever used to make bird search requests — nothing else. My Next Lifer cannot access your eBird checklists, personal information, or anything beyond what the public search endpoints return.

Once your life list is uploaded, My Next Lifer can tell you which birds in any search would be new species for you — lifers. Every species you haven't seen before gets a green "Lifer" tag, and you can filter the entire list to show only those species.

If you're travelling to a new region specifically to find lifers, this feature is invaluable — instead of scrolling through 200 species and mentally crossing off the ones you've already seen, the app does it for you instantly.

Yes. The entire process works on mobile:

• Visit ebird.org/downloadMyData in your mobile browser and request your data
• When the email arrives, tap the download link — your phone will download the .zip file
• Unzip it using your phone's built-in file manager (Files app on iPhone, Files on Android)
• Come back to My Next Lifer, go to the Life List page, and upload the CSV

eBird's data export includes all of your observations — including subspecies, hybrid species, slash species (e.g. "Greater/Lesser Scaup"), and other non-countable entries. My Next Lifer filters these out and only counts true species-level records, which should bring the number in line with your official eBird life list total.

If you're still seeing a discrepancy, try re-uploading your CSV — the count shown is calculated fresh each time you upload.

Go to My Life List and upload a fresh CSV export from eBird at any time. The new list replaces the old one — your My Next Lifer account data is not affected.

There are three ways to set your search location:

• Type a location — enter any city, region, national park, or country name and press Search. The app will geocode it automatically.
• GPS button — tap the crosshair icon to use your device's current location. This works on both desktop and mobile.
• Pin mode — click the map pin icon to activate Pin Mode, then click anywhere on the map to search from that exact point.

Green pins show birding hotspots where species have been reported. The number inside shows how many species are currently visible in your filtered list were seen at that location.

Orange/terracotta pins indicate hotspots where at least one eBird-flagged rare or notable species has been reported.

Click any pin to filter the species list to only show birds seen at that specific hotspot. A green banner appears at the top of the list — click Show all × to return to the full results.

A few things to check:

• Make sure Lifers only or Rare only filters aren't active — these can dramatically reduce the species count
• Try increasing the radius (25 km or 50 km) or extending the date range to 14 or 30 days
• Check the species filter search bar isn't hiding results — it remembers what you typed

Export gives you a copy of your current list — either as plain text (for pasting into WhatsApp, email, or notes) or as a linked list (for pasting into Gmail or Google Docs with clickable eBird links preserved).

Share generates a unique web link that anyone can open — no account required. The linked page shows a full branded view of your target list, including species photos, hotspot links, lifer and rare tags, and a filter bar. This is ideal for sending to a guide or a birding partner.

Shared lists are stored permanently unless deleted. Each list is a snapshot of the data at the moment you clicked Share — it won't change if you run a new search later.

The linked list uses your clipboard's rich text format, which preserves hyperlinks when pasting into apps that support it — Gmail, Google Docs, Apple Mail, Microsoft Word, and similar. Pasting into a plain text field (like WhatsApp or a basic notes app) will strip the links and show just the text, which is expected behaviour.

For plain text destinations, use the Plain Text tab in the Export modal instead.