Frequently asked questions
Short answers about how Flyway works, where its data comes from, and what the app can do. If you're new, the how-to-use guide walks through every feature.
Is Flyway free?
Yes. Every quiz and every tool is free, and you can play without an account. A free account is optional — it saves your progress, XP and badges across devices and puts your scores on the leaderboards.
Do I need an eBird account?
No. Flyway reads public eBird sighting data on your behalf; you never sign in to eBird. Flyway is an independent educational project and is not affiliated with eBird or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
How does Flyway decide which birds to quiz me on?
It pulls the species actually being reported near your chosen place in the last few weeks, then weights them by frequency (how often they're reported) and recency (how lately). Common local birds come up more often, so practice mirrors real encounter rates instead of drilling rarities you'll never meet.
What is the sighting probability score?
A 0–100 estimate of your odds of finding a given species at a given hotspot. It combines the species' reporting rate on that spot's recent checklists, how heavily the spot is birded, how many individuals were seen (eBird 'X' counts as one), and how recently it was reported.
Can I practice bird calls and songs?
Yes — switch Quiz style to 'By Ear' in the quiz options. You get a mystery recording with no photo, identify it by sound, and the bird is revealed after you answer. By Ear scores have their own leaderboard, separate from photo quizzes.
Where do the photos and sound recordings come from?
Photos come from iNaturalist contributors, sound recordings primarily from xeno-canto (with iNaturalist as a fallback), field-mark descriptions from Wikipedia, and all sighting data from eBird. Each recording credits its recordist.
Can I see scientific names, or names in my language?
Yes. In Account → Settings you can show common names, scientific names, or both. You can also set the bird-name language — common names are available in 18 languages including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic.
How do I find where a specific bird has been seen?
Use Tools → Find a Bird. Pick a species and a location and Flyway returns the nearest eBird hotspots where it's been reported recently, ranked by sighting probability, mapped, with a link to quiz that exact spot before you go.
Can Flyway help me plan a birding trip?
Yes. Tools → Roadtrip Planner takes a start and destination, finds the best hotspots roughly every 25 miles along the actual driving route, flags stops with recent rarities, and can open your chosen stops as a single Google Maps route.
Why are there separate leaderboards for By Ear?
Identifying a bird by sound is a different skill from identifying it by sight, and audio difficulty varies with recording quality. Keeping the boards separate keeps both comparable.
Why does my score depend on speed?
Points reward quick, confident recognition — the thing that actually helps in the field, where birds don't wait. Streaks and harder (less common) species also multiply your score. Leaderboards use a per-30-bird skill score so quiz length doesn't matter.
Why did a bird get skipped in By Ear mode?
If no usable recording exists for that species, Flyway silently swaps in another bird rather than showing you a dead question. Coverage is strongest for common species.
How current is the data?
Sightings are pulled live from eBird each time you start a quiz or run a tool, typically covering the last 14–30 days. There's no stale local copy.
Can I install Flyway on my phone?
Yes. It's a progressive web app — on Android/Chrome you'll get an 'Add' prompt after a round, and on iOS you can use Safari's Share → Add to Home Screen. It then opens full screen like a normal app.
Does Flyway work offline?
No. Every quiz and tool needs live eBird data, so an internet connection is required.
How do I suggest a feature or report a problem?
Feedback is genuinely welcome and several shipped features came from user suggestions. Reach out through the project's Product Hunt page or the community threads where Flyway is shared.
How do I know what's new in Flyway?
Check the release notes — a plain-language log of every meaningful update, newest first.
More: How to use Flyway · About & methodology