Date: 7/27/26 9:00 am From: Kurt Radamaker via groups.io <kurtradamaker...> Subject: Re: [CALBIRDS] artificial intelligence and photos of birds
Frowning on back of the camera shots has zero to do with fraudulent documentation of a sighting, it is all about Macaulay.
Macaulay uses the images to build their AI engines. I’m not against using your best and brightest images in eBird so Macaulay has a better AI engine, but let’s not user shame. Even with AI enhanced images, I don’t think folks are intending to deceive, they are just trying to get better photo ratings, not realizing that the AI enhancements can change field marks and in some cases identity.
My mid level rarity e.g. (Summer Tanager in Baja) back of the camera shot is merely to assist the reviewer with quickly confirming the sighting. I understand the value of posting detailed photos of mega rarities or very difficult to id Empidonax etc.
99% of the time I’m just too busy, lazy, or unmotivated to submit my glossy jpeg of the tanager. If I don’t do it at the time, it may never get done. I might get to uploading my camera photos weeks or even months later.
I get it, I have been wowed by some fantastic photos in eBird, but hopefully toning down the competition for higher ratings may help reduce the desire to submit photographic art rather than photographic documentation.
From: <CALBIRDS...> <CALBIRDS...> On Behalf Of John Garrett via groups.io
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2026 5:07 AM
To: <CALBIRDS...>
Subject: Re: [CALBIRDS] artificial intelligence and photos of birds
Kurt wrote:
I have submitted a few back of the camera photos to ebird to support my id, not win a photography contest and I was contacted by an ebird reviewer that ebird frowns on back of the camera photos. Odd, eBird doesn’t frown on supportive drawings, but frown on back of the camera photos that clearly and absolutely confirm an identification. So I think ebird has some culpability hear.
Just to clarify: the reason back-of-camera photos are discouraged isn't that they won't win photography contests. While they're generally less problematic than AI-"enhanced" images, they're still a poorer record of the bird than the original photo the observer already has.
More importantly, the Macaulay Library has many purposes beyond documenting an individual rarity. It is a long-term scientific archive used by researchers, Merlin, and birders around the world. For nearly all of those uses, the original image is substantially more valuable than a photo of a camera screen. Back-of-camera photos are perfectly fine for e.g., Discord or other platforms for quickly alerting other birders.
It's also worth noting that, while the vast majority of observers are undoubtedly honest, back-of-camera photos lack the original metadata (EXIF). In certain cases (such as where a record's authenticity is questioned), that metadata can be important and helps deter fabricated records.
