Checklist

A checklist is the unit eBird is built around. It bundles where you were, when you started, how long you birded, how far you walked, and what you saw with how many of each. That structure is what turns a personal note into something a researcher can use.

It is worth understanding that a checklist is a record of effort as well as observation. A list of nothing at all, submitted properly, is real data: it says a trained observer looked in that place at that time and did not find the species. That is why eBird asks whether you are reporting everything you detected.