Every number here is a verified record placed where the science needs it — coverage, not volume. Gathered pseudonymously by everyone using The Count; no names, no precise places.
The gamification literature is clear: reward speed or quantity and you corrupt citizen-science data; reward coverage and you reduce its sampling bias. The Count scores only distinct species, distinct places, and the records you confirm for others — logging the same bird in the same square again earns nothing.
Confirmed records with a photo or recording are eligible to flow, with the observer's explicit action, into eBird and the Macaulay Library — the datasets the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and others use for real research. A personal portfolio project, not affiliated with the Cornell Lab or eBird.