Regions, Countries, Provinces and Birding Areas

Sightings on Chirp are categorised according to four different geographic types, each of which is represented by a boundary polygon. These geographic types are as follows:

Regions: Regions are the largest geographic types and generally encompass multiple countries. For countries with coastlines, regions also include the countries exclusive economic zone which extends 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline. For example, the region 'North America' includes the USA, Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Chirp has based its regions on regions already used by the global birding community. If you feel that any of the Chirp regions are incorrect and need to be changed, please send us feedback by clicking on the 'Feedback' button on the right-hand side of the screen.

Countries: Countries are the next largest geographical type and only include a single country or dependency. For countries with coastlines, the countries exclusive economic zone (extending 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline) is also included. The list of countries and dependencies is based on the ISO 3166 list of countries.

Provinces: Provinces are the third largest geographical type and are included for all countries/dependencies that have provinces. The list of countries and dependencies is based on the ISO 3166 list of countries and provinces.

Birding Areas: Birding Areas are the smallest geographical type and are generally protected areas such as national parks or nature reserves. There are many different birding areas globally and not all of them may be included on Chirp. If a birding area you are familiar with is not included on Chirp, please send us feedback by clicking on the 'Feedback' button on the right-hand side of the screen.