Dear All,
For those looking for information on Kenya's birds which may not be available in the superb sources noted by Don, eBird, which began about 10 years ago, is a very good listing platform to use in Kenya (I can't speak for other African countries), with active review of all records and powerful data exploration tools. Don is incorrect in stating that records are unsubstantiated. They may not be substantiated by the Scopus records committee but there is active review of all Kenya records submitted by two reviewers (myself and Tyler Davis at Angama in the Mara) who are knowledgeable about Kenya's birdlife.
Furthermore, the capabilities of most observers submitting lists are known to or can be easily gauged by the reviewers and in many cases where documentation should be provided, it is in the form of photos, sound or written notes. Records of rare birds which are not adequately supported are invalidated and not displayed in data outputs. A few examples of documentation submitted includes a sound recording of Rock Cisticola here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33760774 comprising the first record of this subspecies in Kenya for at least 40 years, or the photo of Oriental Honey Buzzard here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S20417968 comprising a first Kenya record, or perhaps a Taita Falcon sketch here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S24605212, photo of Bridled Tern here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S10223440 photo of Long-tailed Widowbird in the Mara here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/canada/view/checklist/S17741752 sketch of White-rumped Shrike in NNP here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S11297467 write up of Red-fronted Warbler at Athi River here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33850626 or photos of Heuglin's Courser here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32675684 There are apparently at least four pairs of these in a small area at Athi River.
So contra Don's comment, this is peer reviewed data, and many, though not all of the better records in eBird are indeed well documented.
These data can be used for research and published too, citing records by the protocol here:
http://help.ebird.org/customer/portal/articles/1006835-recommended-citation The notion that eBird Kenya is invalid or that records are unsubstantiated because not reviewed through Scopus is simply incorrect and I encourage everyone interested in keeping track of what you're seeing to give it a go. Not to say there aren't likely a small number of errors in there still waiting to be picked up on, but the Kenya dataset is now quite rigorous and growing fast (currently over 13,000 checklists submitted), and in my opinion, the future of record storage, evaluation and use lies with online platforms like eBird. eBird uses a different taxonomy to what is used by the (now 15+ year old) field guides but it is not complicated and googling the species names will provide a list of alternatives if stuck on nomenclature. It's easy to add written comments or breeding information to a record, and attaching media is as simple as dragging and dropping photos and sound files. What's nice about this is that the documentation can be seen by all, as opposed to a simple "full details received", you'll just have to believe me.
I'm happy to answer any questions or discuss any records pertaining to eBird.