Contribute with your data
We are currently redeveloping our Data Submission page, so it is currently not possible to upload a new dataset via our website. In the meantime, you can still contribute your data by contacting us directly by email (seabirds[at]birdlife.org).
To facilitate this process, we ask data contributors to:
- Download the instructions (pdf) and the data sheet template (xlsx) and fill it in with your data.
- Save it as a CSV file (note that we do not accept Excel spreadsheets).
- Please read our Terms of Use before contributing your data.
- Send your data as an attachment by email to the email address above.
- The BirdLife team will then be in touch to process your data.
Request data
We are currently redeveloping our data request interface. In the meantime, you can explore the data already in the Seabird Tracking Database, and launch a data request, using our temporary ‘explore data’ tool.
We hope to have our Data Exploration and Data Submission pages ready soon. If you have any questions, please contact us by email at seabirds[at]birdlife.org.
About the Data
Species
Tracking data for any seabird species, regardless of their conservation status, are very welcome to our database. A complete list of all seabird species currently recognized by BirdLife International can be found at the Data Zone.
Ownership
Data in the database can be searched and viewed (subject to owner’s permissions), but actual access to tracking data is restricted within a request process.
BirdLife International is the curator and manager of the database, but the data is actually owned by the contributors. The main purpose of the database is to inform conservation work, but we also aim to enhance and collaboration among seabird researchers. Data can be request (see ‘Request Data’ section above) and the contributors then decide whether to accept or reject sharing their data.
The tracking data held in the database were kindly provided by seabird researchers from around the world – lists of contributors are available in the Species Group pages.
Fidelity
The data are organized into datasets. A dataset is a combination of tracking data collected from one-to-several birds belonging to the same species, collected with the same type of device (GPS, PTT or GLS), deployed in the same colony, and owned by the same group of contributors.
Please note that the data held in the database are raw data (filtered to remove erroneous locations in case of PTT and GLS data), corresponding to a small sample of the species’ overall populations. Therefore, the absence of a species in a certain area may not be considered as a true absence of the species. Data should be analysed with the proper statistical tools before deriving any conclusions about the use of the areas. Some results of the application of such analytical methods to identify Important Bird Areas can be viewed in BirdLife Marine E-Atlas.