Birda is designed to make importing your bird sighting data as smooth as possible. However, there are a few reasons why your import may fail. Here's a brief overview of the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them:

When exporting data from your source platform, such as BirdTrack, make sure you select 'Yes' on all fields. Additionally, avoid selecting 'Provide Machine-readable (JSON) subrow data' as it can lead to import failures on Birda​.

Do not open or edit your exported file before importing it to Birda. Opening or editing your exported file could change date formats in the import file, causing the import to fail. This applies to files exported from various platforms, including BirdTrack, eBird, and Birdlasser​.

For users importing data from Birdlasser using Android devices, please note that Birdlasser's Android life list imports are currently not supported as they are missing GPS coordinates and species scientific names. To resolve this, you may need to contact Birdlasser and request them to add the necessary fields​.

Birda automatically checks for duplicates to ensure the same sighting records are not duplicated when imports are uploaded. However, if you import a record to Birda and then change the record in the source platform and reimport it, it may create a duplicate as the edited sighting could be seen as a new distinct record. If you encounter this issue, please let us know so we can refine our de-duplication algorithm​.

By avoiding these common pitfalls, you should be able to import your sighting records to Birda without any issues. If you do encounter a problem not covered in this article, don't hesitate to reach out to us for further assistance.

If you're having repeated issues with your imports after following the steps in the support articles for each import type, you might need to try one of the following;

If you're still having trouble, please get in touch with us at support@birda.org, or use our chatbox on the website and attach your Birdlasser export.