America... The land of the free!
So no structure, no system, only chaos
Maybe take a look at how things are done in e.g. the Netherlands and Belgium:
Overzicht van waarnemingen van zeldzame vogels in Nederland - Dutch Bird Alerts (and:
Overzicht van waarnemingen van zeldzame vogels in België - Belgian Bird Alerts , which is largely a copy of the Dutch version).
So what are you getting:
1. a website with rare bird sightings, and if you click on them, you get all info.
2. an app, that pushes those sightings on your phone with a warning. Warnings can be custom-filtered (e.g. only lifers, only birds within a radius,...)
3. a ranking
So how do sightings end up on the site / app?
1. every subscriber can enter sightings. There is the common sense to only add rare birds, not scarce birds.
2. the moderators (all very active birders) trawl their resources (whatsapp, other platforms, phone calls coming from people without subsription
3. a lot of sightings come from
Waarneming.nl which is the main platform for all species groups in the low lands. So whenever a rare bird is uploaded on waarneming, it comes ALWAYS with exact coordinates. So it's very easy to just forward the info to the dutchbirding site and app.
So this is how it works:
1. you pay for subscription (20 or 30 euro a year. It seems a lot, but how much does one failed twitch cost in petrol, and in bad memories?)
2. you are added to the Dutch birding telegram group. In this group, there is some extra info with regards to e.g. how to reach a certain site, where (not) to park, movements of the bird,....
3. you wait for a push...
4. you see the message in the app. With GPS coordinates. Click on the coordinates that automatically leads you to google maps, step in the car (or on the bike) and go.
How many times I see rare bird alerts in the USA on facebook, where you see 100ths of reactions under a picture asking where exactly is the bird...? When I see those alerts, I can only think the system to share info in the US is literally retarded.
And indeed, ebird doesn't help much. It only helps if people enter data in ebird with exact location. Ebird made some steps towards encouraging its users to be more specific with the entrance of data (and locations), but it's simply not designed for refinding a bird that has been seen by someone else.
I can only suggest to US birders to organize, see what system others are using, and e.g. get into contact with some of those platforms (like Dutch birding) and ask if there is a way to copy the platform for other countries. A lot of the IT stuff has been done (no need to reinvent the wheel), so go an try to buy / pick up a system that works, and be prepared to pay for it.