Driving Directions for Birds

If you are planning a long car journey then it is important that you take frequent breaks. The UK's Highway Code recommends taking a break of at least 15 minutes every two hours when driving. Probably the most relaxing way to break a long car journey is by doing a little bird-spotting. Which is where BirdTrippin comes in.

BirdTrippin is a route planning map which can not only show you how to get from A to B it can also recommend bird spotting opportunities along your route. Enter a starting point and a destination into BirdTrippin and it will add recent bird sightings which are near your route. You can then click on any of the bird markers shown on the map and BirdTrippin will automatically update your route to take in your chosen bird spotting opportunities.

The birds populating the BirdTrippin map appear to be retrieved using the eBird API. The eBird API allows developers to retrieve a list of recent interesting bird sightings (up to 30 days ago) of birds seen in a country, state, county, or location. This suggests that the birds shown on the map are ones that have been spotted in the last few weeks. Which means that you presumably won't be directed to view a migratory bird when it is out of season. eBird collects bird sightings from around the world - so BirdTrippin should work in most countries.