Bird counter · Free · No sign-up
Bird Counter
A bird counter records how many birds of each species you see. This one keeps two numbers per species: how many are in view now, and the high count, meaning the most seen at one time. The high count is what checklists ask for, because it does not double-count a flock that keeps circling back.
Everything stays in this browser and works offline in the field.
No species yet. Add the first one you see and two numbers appear: in view, which you count up and down as the group in front of you changes, and high count, which keeps the largest that in view ever reached. The high count is the number that goes on the checklist.
Click a row to select it, then + and − change what is in view and 0 clears the group once it has moved on. Ctrl+Z undoes.
This holds a tally. It does not identify birds and it does not submit anything. It has no species list, no range or date filters, and no idea whether what you have typed is plausible where you are standing. Identification is yours, and the checklist is submitted wherever you normally submit it.
Every tally counter pointed at birds gives you a running total, and a running total is the one number a checklist does not want. This one records the high count instead.
A bird counter is a tally used during birdwatching to record how many individuals of each species were seen, normally as the highest number observed at one time rather than as a cumulative count of sightings.
- No sign-up
- No ads
- Counts never leave your browser
- Works offline
- Unlimited counters
Key facts
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price | Free, no sign-up, no ads |
| Counts | A row per species, added as you go |
| Numbers kept per species | In view now, and the high count for the session |
| Reported figure | The high count, the most seen at one time |
| Can the count go down? | Yes. In view falls as birds leave; the high count does not |
| Species per checklist | Up to 200 |
| Keys | + and − for the selected row, 0 to clear the group, Ctrl+Z to undo |
| Where counts are stored | This browser only, never a server |
| Works offline | Yes, once the page has loaded |
| Identifies birds | No. It holds a tally and nothing else |
| Submits to eBird | No. Copy checklist, then enter them yourself |
How to count birds on a walk
The counting is the easy half. Not counting the same bird twice is the half that needs a method.
Add the species the first time you see it
Type the name and it gets a row. Nothing is pre-loaded, so the checklist is only ever the birds you actually identified, in the order you met them.
Count what is in front of you, not what has been
Use plus and minus to make in view match the group you can see at this moment. It is a live figure, so bring it down when birds leave rather than letting it drift upward.
Let the high count look after the record
Each time in view reaches a new maximum, the high count takes it. You never set it by hand and it never falls, so the largest group of the session is captured whenever it happened.
Clear the group once it has gone
Press Clear, or 0, when the flock moves off. In view returns to zero and the high count stays. If the same species reappears, count the new group from zero and only a genuinely larger one will raise the record.
Add known extra individuals deliberately
If you can tell that the birds now are different from the birds earlier, count in view up to the combined figure. That is the clearly-different-individuals rule, and it is a judgement only you can make.
Copy the checklist before you close the tab
Copy checklist puts the species and their high counts on the clipboard, ready to type into wherever you submit. The count lives only in this browser.
Where a bird counter gets used
Anywhere the question is how many of each, and the birds will not hold still long enough to be sure.
Checklists on a morning walk
A row per species as you meet it, with the high count ready to type in at the end rather than reconstructed from memory over breakfast.
Garden and feeder watching
The case the high count was made for: the same regulars return all morning, so only the most at one time is meaningful.
Organised counts and bird races
A backyard count, a big day or a Christmas count, where species totals are compared across observers and a cumulative tally would not be comparable.
Point counts and transect surveys
A fixed station for a fixed time, where the protocol asks for one number per species and a clean reset between stations.
Migration and seawatching
Long sessions of birds passing in groups, where clearing between groups keeps each flock separate instead of blurring into one total.
Teaching field skills
Showing a group why the running total and the reported number differ, which the tally marks guide covers from the other direction.
Why a running total is the wrong number for birds
Here is the mistake that every general tally counter makes the moment it is pointed at birds, and it is not a small one. A tally counter gives you a cumulative sum: one tap, one bird, forever upward. Birds do not hold still for that. The same six starlings that lift off the wire, circle the field and settle again are six birds, but a tally counter that was tapped each time they came past reports twenty-four.
That is not a rounding error, it is a fourfold overcount, and it is why the number a tally counter produces is the one number the protocol tells you not to submit. eBird’s rule is to “report the highest number of individuals seen at one time during the observation period, as well as any clearly different individuals”. A running total cannot produce that figure, because it has thrown away the information needed to work it out.
| Cumulative tally counter | High count (this page) | |
|---|---|---|
| What a tap means | One more bird, permanently | One more bird currently in view |
| After the first pass of six | 6 | 6 in view, high count 6 |
| After four passes of the same six | 24 | 6 in view, high count 6 |
| If a seventh joins on the last pass | 31 | 7 in view, high count 7 |
| Number reported | 31, of which 24 are duplicates | 7, which is what was there |
| Is it submittable? | No | Yes |
The two numbers, and why both are on screen
Each species row carries in view and high count. In view is a live figure you drive with plus and minus as you count the group actually in front of you; it goes down as well as up, because birds leave. High count is the largest value in view has reached this session, and it only ever rises. When the flock moves on, Clear zeroes in view and leaves the high count exactly where it was.
That is the whole mechanism, and it is deliberately the same shape as the field practice it replaces: birders scan a group, arrive at a number, note it, and later replace it only if they see more at once. The counter just stops you having to remember which of the two numbers you were holding in your head.
The “clearly different individuals” exception
The rule does not stop at the highest simultaneous count, and the second half is the part most often dropped. eBird’s own worked example: if you see six female cardinals and three males, and later see six males together, you have had at least twelve different cardinals, even though you never saw twelve at one moment. The checklist should say twelve.
No extra control is needed for that here, because you drive in view directly rather than only tapping it upward. Count it to twelve when you know there were twelve distinguishable individuals, and the high count follows. The judgement stays where it belongs, with the person holding the binoculars, and the counter records the figure without arguing.
Being conservative, and false precision
Two further points from the same guidance are worth carrying onto the page, because a counter makes both easier to get wrong. Count in the moment rather than reconstructing the morning afterwards; a number written down while the birds are in front of you beats one recalled at lunch. And beware false precision: do not mix an exact count with an estimate for the same species on one checklist, because the result reads as exact when half of it is not. If you counted 40 gulls exactly and estimated 300 more, the honest entry is an estimate of the whole, not 340.
What this is not
It is not an identification aid, and nothing here narrows what you should have typed. It has no taxonomy, no regional checklist and no rarity flagging, so a misspelling or a bird that does not occur within a thousand miles will be accepted without comment. It does not connect to eBird, FeederWatch or any other project, and Copy checklist exists precisely because transferring the numbers is a manual step. Everything stays in this browser, which is what makes it work in a reserve with no signal, and also means clearing site data clears the count.
Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet
Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.
| Feature | This online counter | Handheld clicker | Counter phone app | Pen and paper | Spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $5–$15 | Free with ads, or paid | Cost of paper | Subscription |
| Anything to install | No | Buy the device | App store download | No | Yes, or a web login |
| Several counts at once | Unlimited | One per device | Usually limited | Yes, messy | Yes |
| Fix a miscount | Undo and redo | Start over | Sometimes | Cross it out | Edit the cell |
| Counts by more than one | Any step size | One at a time | Sometimes | Manual maths | Yes |
| Below zero | Yes | No | Rarely | Yes | Yes |
| Keeps the count if you close it | Saves automatically | Until you reset the dial | Yes | If you keep the paper | Yes |
| Works with no signal | Yes, after first load | Yes | Yes | Yes | Often not |
| Keyboard and shortcuts | Full | None | None | None | Partial |
| Sends your data anywhere | Never | Never | Often, for accounts and ads | Never | Yes, to the cloud |
Other counter types
The same counter, set up and explained for a specific job. Your counters are shared across all of them.
Online counter
The all-purpose counter. Any step size, any number of counters, negative values allowed.
Open online counter →Tally counter
Tally marks in groups of five for surveys, stock takes and wildlife counts.
Open tally counter →Click counter
A browser clicker that replaces the handheld thumb counter for door headcounts.
Open click counter →Lap counter
Count pool lengths, track laps and treadmill intervals without losing your place.
Open lap counter →Rep counter
Track reps and sets during a lifting session, with a step size for supersets.
Open rep counter →Score counter
A scoreboard for cards, darts and board games. One counter per player, negatives allowed.
Open score counter →Tasbeeh counter
A digital dhikr counter that stops at 33, 99 or 100 and keeps each dhikr separate.
Open tasbeeh counter →Differential counter
Six keys for a manual white cell differential, with an auto-stop and live percentages.
Open differential counter →Multi counter
Run as many counters as you like at once, side by side in a grid.
Open multi counter →Pitch counter
Count pitches, then get the rest days owed and the next eligible date.
Open pitch counter →Auto counter
Counts on its own from every 0.1 seconds to once an hour, and stops at your limit.
Open auto counter →Click speed test
Measure your clicks per second over 1 to 60 seconds, with your personal best kept on-device.
Open click speed test →Habit counter
Count toward a daily target and keep the streak, with a day boundary you choose.
Open habit counter →People counter
In and out at a door, with live occupancy against a capacity and a fix for drift.
Open people counter →Inventory counter
A count sheet holding the book quantity beside the counted one, with the variance per line.
Open inventory counter →Knitting counter
Rows, pattern repeats and a shaping schedule that names the increase rows and then ends.
Open knitting counter →
Frequently asked questions
What is a bird-watching counter?
A tally kept in the field to record how many birds of each species were seen. A mechanical one is a single clicker with no species at all, so the birder keeps the names on paper. This one gives each species its own row and records the high count, which is the figure checklists are normally built from.
How do I count birds without counting the same one twice?
Count what is in view at a single moment rather than tapping once per sighting. A bird that leaves and returns is already inside that figure, so it cannot be added again. That is why this page keeps a live in-view number you can bring down, instead of a total that only ever rises.
What number should I report when a flock keeps moving?
The highest number you saw at one time during the observation, plus any individuals you can tell were different. Four passes of the same six starlings is six, not twenty-four. The high count on each row is that figure, captured automatically as in view reaches each new maximum.
How does multi-species tracking work?
Every species you add gets its own row with its own in-view count, high count and keys, so nothing has to be selected before it can be adjusted by tapping. The total at the top is the sum of the high counts across all rows, which is the checklist total rather than a count of taps.
Can I add species during the walk?
Yes, and that is the expected way to use it. Nothing is pre-loaded: type a name and the row appears, in the order you actually met the birds. Adding a name that is already on the checklist selects the existing row instead of creating a duplicate.
How do I count a large or moving flock?
Count a manageable subset one by one, see how much of the group that block covers, and extrapolate across the whole. Then enter the estimate as the in-view figure. Do not mix an exact count and an estimate for the same species, because the result reads as precise when only half of it is.
Does it work without cell signal in the field?
Yes. It runs entirely in the browser and keeps working after the first load with no connection, which is the normal condition in a reserve or on a hillside. Nothing is sent anywhere, so there is nothing for a lost signal to interrupt.
Will my count save if I close the tab?
Yes. The checklist is written to this browser's local storage as you go and is still there when you come back on the same device and browser. It is not synced, so it will not appear on your phone if you counted on a laptop, and clearing site data removes it.
How is this different from eBird or Merlin?
Those identify birds and hold your records; this does neither. It has no taxonomy, no range maps and no rarity checks, and it submits nothing. It is the counter you use while the birds are in front of you, and Copy checklist hands the numbers over for you to enter wherever you keep them.
Can I use it for a backyard count or a feeder watch?
Yes. Those projects ask for the highest number of each species seen at one time, which is exactly what each row records, and feeders are the clearest case of the same individuals returning all morning. Check the project's own instructions for the observation period, which this page does not time.
Counting guides
Longer answers to the questions behind the counting.
- Swimming
How to count laps while swimming
Why swimmers lose count at length 14, and five methods that actually hold up.
- Tallying
Tally marks explained
Groups of five, the five-bar gate, and why the convention has survived for centuries.
- Events
How to do an accurate headcount
Counting people is easy. Counting them accurately, twice, is not.
- Habits
Track a daily habit streak
Why streak apps fail, and what a plain daily counter does better.
- Click speed
How to click faster
Hardware and grip account for most of the gap. Practice accounts for less than people think.
- Inventory
How to do a stock take
Counting is the easy part. Preparing, and knowing your count is right, is the job.
- Training
Reps and sets explained
How to read a programme, and why the rep range matters more than the total.
- Reference
Types of counters explained
Synchronous vs asynchronous, mod-N, ring and Johnson, plus mechanical and software counters.
- Build it
How to make a counter
Twenty lines gets you counting. Here is what to add after that, and why.
- Baseball
How to keep an official pitch count
Little League requires an official recorder at every game. Almost nobody explains the job.