You can visit http://www.birdstack.com/export to download all of your Birdstack data, including your observations and photos. You can also export qualifying records to eBird. (Learn how: http://birdstack.com/help/ebird.)

Your enthusiasm, support, and participation over the years has been amazing. We’ve learned and accomplished much together, and Birdstack has helped push forward the development of online bird listing programs.

But times are changing, and Birdstack doesn’t have the resources to continue growing. We’ve made the very difficult decision to close the site down.

Remember, please visit http://www.birdstack.com/export to download your data. We encourage you to explore eBird — or a local WorldBirds partner — as an online listing solution.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about this process: http://birdstack.com/contact.

The Birdstack Team

If your data was affected by any splits or lumps, you will have a notification. For help with the upgrade process, check the taxonomic updates help page and the taxonomic updates screencast.

This update introduced a handful of splits and English name changes. There were significant changes to higher-level taxonomy, including (1) recognition of Suliformes, Capitonidae, Semnornithidae, Macrosphenidae and Pnoepygidae, (2) reclassification of core babbler taxa into five families (Timaliidae, Pellorneidae, Leiothrichidae, Sylviidae, Zosteropidae — read more), and (3) 92 changes of genus.

These and other changes can be perused from the IOC update pages.

If your data was affected by any splits or lumps, you will have a notification. For help with the upgrade process, check the taxonomic updates help page and the taxonomic updates screencast.

In this update, there were changes to 19 English names, including consensus recommendations of Guy Dutson et al. for birds of Melanesian islands. There were taxonomic changes among the pittas, Thryothorus wrens, and parrotbills. Also in this update is a revised sequence of species of Cinclodes that aligns with SACC sequence to reflect current genetic information.

Notable splits include Common Moorhen (Old World and New World forms; New World species called “Common Gallinule”), Winter Wren (following recent American Ornithologists’ Union split), Blue-crowned Motmot complex, and Western Scrub Jay (into Pacific and interior forms).

These and other changes can be perused from the IOC update pages.

And mark your calendars for the September 22 equinox. Remember that you can now use Birdstack’s built-in photo upload system to add pictures to your observations and trip reports.

Birds of the Solstice is a project to document birdlife around the world during the December solstice, which is this coming Monday — June 21 at 11:28 a.m. UTC (that’s 7:28 a.m. in New York and 9:28 p.m. in Sydney). We want to hear from you, wherever you are that day! Here’s how.

At the June solstice, earth’s northern hemisphere is tipped toward the sun. There, the sun is bright, days are long, and new life abounds. In the south, the world is dark, cold, and getting colder. In the tropics, refugees and permanent residents coexist for a season.

Note: The submission process is different this time. We’ll be doing everything via Birdstack trips with attached photos. Full details are at the Birds of the Solstice page.

At some point within 12 hours either side of the solstice, go birding — even if it’s just by looking out your window for 10 minutes. Record your observations in a trip on Birdstack and maybe upload some photos. Here are more ideas, an official timetable for participation, and the rules.

Submissions must be received by June 26 at 10 p.m. (UTC) in order to be included in the Birds of the Solstice compilation page. We’ll post the compilation page by June 30. Help make it amazing!

If you would like to promote Birds of the Solstice on your blog, you can copy and paste either of these code snippets:

Banner (500px by 110px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar-birding/june-solstice-2010"><img src="http://birdstack.com/images/solstice-banner.jpg" alt="Birds of the Solstice" title="Birds of the Solstice, a Birdstack community project" /></a>

or

Button (165px by 165px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar-birding/june-solstice-2010"><img src="http://birdstack.com/images/solstice-button-rth.jpg" alt="Birds of the Solstice" title="Birds of the Solstice, a Birdstack community project" /></a>

You can also RSVP/promote Birds of the Solstice on Facebook.

Good birding!

If your data was affected by any splits or lumps, you will have a notification. For help with the upgrade process, check the taxonomic updates help page and the taxonomic updates screencast.

Highlights for North American birders include the re-splitting of Mexican Duck (Anas diazi) from Mallard. See the IOC comments and my blog post for more details.

And another biggie is the re-splitting of Yellow-rumped Warbler into the eastern Myrtle Warbler, the western Audubon’s Warbler, and two non-migratory species in Mexico and Guatemala. Details in the IOC notes.

Other splits abound and can be perused from the IOC update pages, along with all the other changes. The IOC is currently changing many English names to better conform with tradition and regional authorities, and shuffling of families and genera continues as scientific data accumulates. Highlights and details are on the IOC site, as mentioned above.

Happy birding, researching, and possibly even armchair ticking!

For the scoop, check out the screencast and have a quick look at the help page.

Photos are popping up all over the site already, so jump in there and show us your best work!

Photos have been one of our most requested features for the past couple of years, and after months of work, they are now very close indeed.

In fact, you may start seeing them in activity feeds and on your friends’ pages already. (Birdstack member thainamu has already been busy!)

Today we launched a limited beta test of our photo upload functionality, which will be coming for all Birdstack members soon. But right now, the beta test is open only to Supporting Members. If you’d like to get in on the action right away, you can become a Supporting Member. (And once the beta test is over, you’ll have more storage space available than you would with a free account.)

But we’re committed to making as much of Birdstack free as possible, and everyone will have the ability to upload photos when the beta phase ends later this month.

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

Update: Right now, our billing system setup means we have to manually confirm new supporting members. Rest assured that we will activate new supporting memberships as soon as possible, but if you sign up while we’re asleep or away from our computers, you might have to wait a few hours. Sorry about that.

Birds of the Solstice is a project to document birdlife around the world during the December solstice, which is this coming Monday or Tuesday (depending on your location) — 21 December at 5:47 p.m. UTC (that’s Monday at 12:47 p.m. in New York and Tuesday at 4:47 a.m. in Sydney). We want to hear from you, wherever you are that day! Here’s how.

Depending on your cultural outlook, solstice marks either the beginning or the midpoint of a season. Depending on your hemisphere, that season is either winter or summer.

It’s an excellent time to stop and reflect on the birds around you. For me, few things say “winter” as eloquently as the burry call of a chickadee on cold, frosty air.

At some point within 12 hours either side of the solstice, go birding — even if it’s just by looking out your window for 10 minutes. Record your observations in a trip on Birdstack. Take pictures. Blog your thoughts. Here are more ideas, an official timetable for participation, and the rules.

There are Birdstackers on six continents, and we’d love to have participation from Tasmania to Finland and from Capetown to Gujarat. By December 31, we’ll post a compilation page with your observations, pictures, and thoughts.

If you would like to promote Birds of the Solstice on your blog, you can copy and paste either of these code snippets:

Banner (500px by 110px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar-birding/december-solstice-2009"><img src="http://birdstack.com/images/solstice-banner.jpg" alt="Birds of the Solstice" title="Birds of the Solstice, a Birdstack community project" /></a>

or

Button (165px by 165px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar-birding/december-solstice-2009"><img src="http://birdstack.com/images/solstice-button-rth.jpg" alt="Birds of the Solstice" title="Birds of the Solstice, a Birdstack community project" /></a>

Good birding!

And mark your calendars for December 21, the solstice.