From February through July 2026, the air across the Caribbean was alive with the sound of music — our community was listening and recording! Launched in partnership with the Grabando Aves initiative, the Sound Recording Challenge invited birders and nature lovers, in the Caribbean, of all experience levels, to hit “record” in their favorite birding spots (backyards and cities included!).
Why record bird sounds?
Beyond filling our hearts with joy, bird sound recordings are critical tools for science and conservation. They help researchers track species distributions, understand bird ecology, and train automated audio identification systems like Merlin Sound ID. Every high-quality file uploaded helps bridge the data gap for the Caribbean, ensuring regional bird sounds are accurately recognized by modern tools.
To qualify for the grand prize which was a state-of-the-art field recording kit featuring a RØDE NTG2 shotgun microphone, a Zoom H1 XLR recorder, an XLR cable and headphones, participants had to submit 50 or more bird sound recordings, including at least three Caribbean priority species, and upload them via eBird.
Caribbean birders answered (and recorded) the call!
The response was staggering. Across the region, 310 passionate birders contributed a phenomenal 3,578 recordings spanning 376 species, including 161 priority species! Two grand prize winners were selected through a random draw.
Drumroll, please… we are thrilled to share the incredible winners who received their prizes at the 2026 BirdsCaribbean Conference:
*Click on the individual names to see their eBird profiles
Grand prize: Mirielle Villanueva (Puerto Rico) – 191 recordings, 47 species, and 7 priority species.
Grand prize: Serguei Alexander López Perez (Cuba) – 89 recordings, 37 species, and 13 priority species. Serguei was not present at the conference to receive his prize.
Honorable Mention goes to Adrián Domínguez (Cuba) – An astounding 333 recordings, 60 species, and 22 priority species.
A huge congratulations to our winners and every single participant who held up their phone or recorder and added their local soundscapes to the global archive.
“I was genuinely surprised by how many people across the Caribbean wanted to record bird sounds and contribute them to the Macaulay Library, both to help improve Merlin Sound ID and to support community science. During the conference events, that interest was everywhere. What excites me most is what comes next: a community that wants to keep contributing, learning, and sharing what it knows.”— Daniel Arias-Cruzatty, Cornell Lab of Ornithology / Grabando Aves
To date, Caribbean birders have uploaded 4,727 recordings of 395 species to the Macaulay Library (click here to explore the library!).
Upload your sound recordings directly in eBird mobile
You can now upload sound recordings directly to your checklists in eBird Mobile. No computer necessary: just your phone, your checklist, and the birds you’re already listening to.
To start, you’ll need a sound recording app (the actual recording doesn’t happen in the eBird Mobile app). We recommend Merlin Bird ID as a sound recording tool: use the Sound ID feature on the main page of Merlin, and then Save your recording in the upper right corner of the screen. Other sound recording apps work, too—we recommend Merlin because it collects high-quality files in .WAV format and also provides Sound ID results while you’re recording.
In the video below, Jay McGowan from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology demonstrates how you can upload your recordings to directly in eBird.
Want to keep the mic hot?
Even though the challenge has wrapped up, your acoustic adventures don’t have to end! The acoustic challenges continue over at Grabando Aves! Check out their ongoing challenges for 2026. These challenges are open to anyone in Latin America and the Caribbean. No sign-up needed: recordings uploaded to eBird count automatically!
Keep your ears open, your recorders ready, and let’s keep the Caribbean sounding loud and proud!
