Glossary

Key terms used in Bïndo and in birding generally.

Bïndo terms

Sighting
The core record in Bïndo. A single observation of a species at a place and time. Sightings stand alone — you don't need a list to create one.

List
A named group of sightings from a trip or session — think of it as a field notebook entry. Lists are optional, and exist to organise sightings.

Atlas list
A structured survey submission for a bird atlas project. Atlas lists have a dedicated tab and a formal submission workflow.

Group list
A shared list where several birders contribute sightings together, usually for a challenge or group outing.

Sensitive sighting
A sighting flagged as sensitive hides its exact GPS coordinate from public views. Used for rare or vulnerable species, where disclosing the exact location could cause disturbance.

Interesting
Birds Bïndo has flagged as noteworthy. They appear in your feed and can be filtered for on the Explore map.

Unusual
A sighting that is unusual for the location or the time of year. Bïndo highlights these in your feed and as an Explore filter.

Unverified
A sighting Bïndo couldn't confirm against its own records and the SABAP2 database — a species not known to occur in that area, say. They're marked with a question-mark icon, still appear in Explore and your profile totals, and can be filtered on the map.

Birding terms

Lifer
A species you've seen for the first time — a new addition to your life list. Marking a sighting as a lifer makes it more likely to appear in other birders' feeds.

Life list
Every species you've ever recorded. Bïndo builds it automatically from your sightings.

Life list count
The number of distinct species on your life list. Deleting a sighting can reduce this count if it was your only record of that species.

Atlas
A systematic survey project to document bird distribution across a defined grid. Atlassing uses standardised recording cards (atlas lists in Bïndo) submitted to a central database.

Pentad
The grid unit used in the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2): a 5×5 minute block of latitude and longitude, roughly 9 km × 9 km. Each atlas list in Bïndo corresponds to a pentad submission.

Full protocol
An atlas card that meets the SABAP2 minimum standard of 2 hours of active birding with effort to cover all available habitats. Full-protocol cards contribute to reporting rate calculations.

Ad hoc
An atlas submission that doesn't meet full-protocol requirements, usually because it was shorter or covered fewer habitats. Still useful for distribution mapping.

Reporting rate
The percentage of full-protocol cards for a pentad on which a species was recorded. The primary measure of how commonly a bird is encountered in a given grid square.

Southern Africa
In Bïndo's context: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Eswatini — the region covered by the species database.

Target species
Birds you're trying to find in an area, based on previous records from that location. Shown as Your Radar on area screens.

Year list
A record of every species seen in a single calendar year, separate from a life list. Resets on 1 January.

Vagrant
A species recorded well outside its normal range, usually as a rare or accidental occurrence.

Endemic
A species whose natural range is restricted to one region. Southern Africa has many endemics and near-endemics.

Tick
Informal term for adding a species to a list, particularly a life list.

Patch
A local area a birder visits regularly, usually close to home. Knowing a patch well produces reliable long-term records.

Checklist
A single birding session's record — species seen, counts, and effort data. Bïndo calls it a list; checklist is the standard term on eBird and in atlassing.