African Bird Image Database (AFBID)

[Kevin Vang <>]

Dear Aus-Birders

Please allow us to post an important announcement about African birding and photography.

Bird Explorers is pleased to announce the African Bird Image Database (AFBID).

http://www.birdquest.net/AFBIDIntro.html

This photographic database has been created by Bird Explorers in Sydney, Australia in collaboration with the African Bird Club and Birding Africa to bring together quality photographs of as many bird species from the African continent and associated islands as possible. This has been done in a concerted effort to promote awareness and conservation of the colourful and varied birdlife of Africa.  For many of you who use Tom Tarrant’s ABID Website, AFBID is based on the same technology.

 The database covers the same region as the African Bird Club and the 'Threatened Birds of Africa and related islands',
    ?     Continental Africa
    ?     Indian Ocean islands west of 80° East, including Madagascar and the Mascarene islands
    ?     Atlantic Ocean on or east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, e.g. the Tristan de Cunha group, Azores and Canaries.

About a quarter of the world's bird species, more than 2,400, have been recorded in this region, with 322 included in BirdLife International’s “Threatened Birds of the World”, the most recent summary of the world's threatened and near-threatened species. The list of species recorded in this region, the taxonomic sequence and the naming conventions are those of the African Bird Club Checklist. 

Users of the site are expected to be tourists, birdwatchers, ornithologists, researchers and anyone with a general interest in the birds of the region. Whatever your own particular interest, we hope that you will enjoy the site, find it of value and visit it frequently. 
   
You will find the database at 
http://birdquest.net/afbid/

Some 1200 photographs of over 600 species have been added to the database already,  making AFBID one of the largest collection of African photos on the web, and you will be able to browse these. We hope that those of you with quality photographs taken in Africa will wish to add your images to the database in which case you will need to register. Instructions for registration are contained within the site. If you have any comments, questions or any difficulties in using the functions of the database, please contact us on   

AFBID would like to thank Tom Tarrant and ABID for their advice and help in this initiative.
   
 Kevin Vang and Wojciech Dabrowka, Bird Explorers 
 John Caddick, African Bird Club 
 Callan Cohen, Birding Africa 

Regards

Kevin and Wojciech