ebird-api-data 0.2.0

eBird API Data is a reusable Django app for loading data from eBird into a database.

eBird API Data is a reusable Django app for loading data from eBird into a database.

Overview

The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York runs the eBird database which collects observations of birds from all over the world. All the observations are published on eBird.org, and they also make them available via an API. This project contains a loader and models to take data from the API and load it into a database. From there you can analyse the data with python, jupyter notebooks, or build a web site.

To get started, you will need to sign up for an eBird account, if you don’t already have one and register to get an API key. Make sure you read and understand the Terms of use, and remember bandwidth and servers cost money, so don’t abuse the service. If you need large numbers of observations, then sign up to receive the eBird Basic Dataset.

Install

You can use either pip or uv to download the package from PyPI and install it into a virtualenv:

pip install ebird-api-data

or:

uv add ebird-api-data

Update INSTALLED_APPS in your Django setting:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    ebird.api.data
]

Finally, run the migrations to create the tables:

python manage.py migrate

Demo

If you check out the code from the repository there is a fully functioning Django site. It only contains the admin pages, but that is sufficient for you to browse the data.

git clone [e-mail]:StuartMacKay/ebird-api-data.git
cd ebird-api-data

Create the virtual environment:

uv venv

Activate it:

source venv/bin/activate

Install the requirements:

uv sync

Run the database migrations:

python manage.py migrate

Create a user:

python manage.py createsuperuser

Create a copy of the .env.example file and add your API key:

cp .env.example .env

EBIRD_API_KEY=<my api key>

Now, download data from the API:

python manage.py add_checklists --days 2 US-NY-109

This loads all the checklists, submitted in the past two days by birders in Tompkins County, New York, where the Cornell Lab is based. You can use any location code used by eBird, whether it’s for a country, state/region, or county. Remember, read the terms of use.

Run the demo:

python manage.py runserver

Now log into the Django Admin <http:localhost:8000/admin> to browse the tables.

Project Information

• Documentation: https://ebird-api-data.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

• Issues: https://github.com/StuartMacKay/ebird-api-data/issues

• Repository: https://github.com/StuartMacKay/ebird-api-data

The app is tested on Python 3.10+, and officially supports Django 4.2, 5.0 and 5.1.

eBird API Data is released under the terms of the MIT license.