Serving the Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced Birder
The EnjoyBirds Design Philosophy
MIST has tried to obtain range information for each and every species as they are currently distributed, without regard to whether a species is native or introduced, established, expanding or dwindling. Our rule is simple: “If you might ever see a species in an area, we try to provide the tools to identify it correctly.” We plan to soon make range map updates available from this web site for software owners.
At the same time, accidentals or vagrants are not mapped, as their occurrences are so unpredictable they neither contribute to the species future nor provide any meaningful learning experience for the birder. We are aware that many birders spend most of their birding efforts chasing rarities, and often do so ourselves. For these out-of-range experiences, EnjoyBirds provides a one-click opening up to the whole list, and adding ANY species, including all rarities expected at least for the USA states and Canadian provinces.
This product provides the means to identify each species; whatever sort of list you keep, and whether it has any official sanctions, are completely your own affair. While we deeply respect the volunteer work of all state record committees, just as we do that of the AOU checklist committee, this product is intended to neither reinforce nor to challenge their work, but to provide an easier learning tool for any beginner. You may be an accomplished birder in the Chicago area, but on your first trip to Baja California, you become a beginner. Your first morning at Cana Mines, Darien, Panama , you are a beginner once again. Some of us relish renewing the challenge to our observation skills, and do not measure our birding progress with list length numbers.
- Marty Michener, MIST Software Associates, PO Box 269, Hollis, NH 03049