CONTRIBUTING MEDIA FILES (PHOTOS) TO BIRDS OF INDIA
We very much welcome your contributions in the form of media files (mainly individual photographs, but also identification keys, line drawings, etc.). These files could show distinctive characteristics of a bird species, or its morphological variation, habits, habitat, and so on. The media files and textual information on the natural history will form a bulk of the species pages and most of the user contributions.
If this is the first time you are considering contributing to Birds of India, please read the guidelines in their entirety before submitting your files and associated information. It is a long list, but please pay attention since this affects the quality of images and other data displayed on this website. Also, review the media guidebelow.
If this is the first time you are considering contributing to Birds of India, please read the guidelines in their entirety before submitting your files and associated information. It is a long list, but please pay attention since this affects the quality of images and other data displayed on this website. Also, review the media guidebelow.
1. Images are submitted online at http://www.birdsofindia.org/submit-observations/. There is a simple registration form to complete before you start contributing images.
2. When completing the registration form, the copyright field is your name either in full or with initials, for example: D. Sawant or Dattaprasad Sawant, Kuschel Gurung, Biju P. S., Dahru Veino, and Nagraj V., as it appears in your formal ID card. Please do not have all capital letters or small letters, or superfluous punctuations, in your name, but do use full stops for initials (e.g., Biju P. S. and Nagraj V.). Also, no honorifics ('Dr.', 'Prof.', 'Mr.", etc.).
3. Showing the phenotype and behaviour of the bird is our top priority, rather than compositions and other photographic considerations (although we expect the quality of images to be good). So, before uploading, images should be cropped close to the bird at 680 x 470 pixels (width x height), or if larger, in that ratio. Images that are in different width x height ratios, or images composed vertically, may be used but horizontal compositions at 680 x 470 pixels display the best on this website. No need to optimize the file size, this is done automatically when images are uploaded. When included in the species page, all picture files will appear 345 pixels wide. When clicked, these files will open in their full 700 pixels-wide size. Some of this is explained in the media guide below, and samples of how this works can be seen on any species page (look under the "Photo Gallery" tab on species pages, and click on any picture).
4. Please make sure your images do not have logos, borders, watermarks, copyrights or anything else that is not part of the original image file. Information about the images, including your copyright, gets automatically added to the images as they are published on the website. Images with text or borders added by you cannot be used on this website.
5. Each media file will be given a unique media code by which it will be identified. In case a user wants to refer to a specific media file, the unique media code will be used as the digital object identifier. We will maintain a database of the media files to keep track of the contributors and their contributions.
6. At a minimum, we request the following information: (a) Precise locality where the picture was taken. If the picture was taken in a wildlife sanctuary or national park, mention that information specifically. If the picture was taken in a place without a specific name, mention the general locality, nearest town, and state. (b) Date on which the picture was taken. (c) Name of the copyright holder for individual media files. It is all right if you are submitting files on behalf of someone else, provided that the original copyright holders are aware that you are submitting the files for this website and they have explicitly granted you permission to submit the images on their behalf. This will ensure that we will not use someone's copyrighted material without their knowledge and express permission. Generally, we encourage people to submit only their own copyrighted material.
When known, please add gender, breeding plumage and form of the individual. There are separate fields where you can enter this type of information. This adds valuable information for the users, which gets databased, and improves search results.
Please take submission of this associated information seriously. A media file without associated data is not useful to us at all. Here is a sample of the associated information that we need with every media file, in its ideal format:
8. Read the notes on the image submission form and double-check your submissions before ticking the "Confirm" box so that we have accurate records. It is very important that you ensure that dates and locations are entered correctly. Your records cannot be seen, reviewed and uploaded on the website until you have clicked the "Confirm" box at the end of the page on which you submit images.
9. All the information and images contributed and subsequently displayed on the website are automatically databased. The database is the backbone of all the searches and maps, and it is centred on spot records. A spot record is a record of an individual bird. One spot record may be represented by multuple images (e.g., a full view and a close-up). So, if you are contributing multiple images of the same individual taken at the same time, then those images should be uploaded at the same time as a single spot record, i.e., an "observation" (select the entire set of images for the same spot record when you upload images for that observation). Then those images will be given separate media codes but in the database they will represent the same individual/spot record/observation. If you photograph multiple individuals of a species at the same time and place, they should be uploaded separately as they represent distinct spot records.
10. After submission, each and every media file will be checked for accuracy of identification and associated data by members of the website team. Such peer review is critical in maintaining high standards of information on the website. Please check your contributions once they appear online. If you disagree with species determination by the website team or spot any other issues, write to us to discuss the reasons.
11. The copyright of individual images remains with the contributors. We ensure that the individual copyright is mentioned in every place where the images appear to give the photographers fair credit for their valuable work. However, please note that the Indian Foundation for Butterflies holds the copyright on compiled information, including the images, that is on the Birds of India website. Therefore, even if photographers hold copyright for the individual images, once contributed to the website, images cannot be retracted by the photographers because they form the copyrighted compilation on the website. Also, please read our authorship policy. Contributors implicitly agree to these guidelines and policies when they contribute their photographs and other media files to the Birds of India website.
If you face any issues in submitting images, please contact us.
You can also contribute text to species pages on this website, but first read guidelines to do so.
We look forward to your contributions to this free, citizen-contributed, peer-reviewed, reference website on Indian birds. We are all working to build this website on a voluntary basis but, as a team, we are working almost round the clock to peer-review and process your images and put them online. So please be patient if your images do not appear online immediately. Peer review sometimes takes time, but it is an important step.
Thank you in advance for your contributions to the website, and welcome to the group of contributors who make this public web-resource on Indian biodiversity so valuable for all.
2. When completing the registration form, the copyright field is your name either in full or with initials, for example: D. Sawant or Dattaprasad Sawant, Kuschel Gurung, Biju P. S., Dahru Veino, and Nagraj V., as it appears in your formal ID card. Please do not have all capital letters or small letters, or superfluous punctuations, in your name, but do use full stops for initials (e.g., Biju P. S. and Nagraj V.). Also, no honorifics ('Dr.', 'Prof.', 'Mr.", etc.).
3. Showing the phenotype and behaviour of the bird is our top priority, rather than compositions and other photographic considerations (although we expect the quality of images to be good). So, before uploading, images should be cropped close to the bird at 680 x 470 pixels (width x height), or if larger, in that ratio. Images that are in different width x height ratios, or images composed vertically, may be used but horizontal compositions at 680 x 470 pixels display the best on this website. No need to optimize the file size, this is done automatically when images are uploaded. When included in the species page, all picture files will appear 345 pixels wide. When clicked, these files will open in their full 700 pixels-wide size. Some of this is explained in the media guide below, and samples of how this works can be seen on any species page (look under the "Photo Gallery" tab on species pages, and click on any picture).
4. Please make sure your images do not have logos, borders, watermarks, copyrights or anything else that is not part of the original image file. Information about the images, including your copyright, gets automatically added to the images as they are published on the website. Images with text or borders added by you cannot be used on this website.
5. Each media file will be given a unique media code by which it will be identified. In case a user wants to refer to a specific media file, the unique media code will be used as the digital object identifier. We will maintain a database of the media files to keep track of the contributors and their contributions.
6. At a minimum, we request the following information: (a) Precise locality where the picture was taken. If the picture was taken in a wildlife sanctuary or national park, mention that information specifically. If the picture was taken in a place without a specific name, mention the general locality, nearest town, and state. (b) Date on which the picture was taken. (c) Name of the copyright holder for individual media files. It is all right if you are submitting files on behalf of someone else, provided that the original copyright holders are aware that you are submitting the files for this website and they have explicitly granted you permission to submit the images on their behalf. This will ensure that we will not use someone's copyrighted material without their knowledge and express permission. Generally, we encourage people to submit only their own copyrighted material.
When known, please add gender, breeding plumage and form of the individual. There are separate fields where you can enter this type of information. This adds valuable information for the users, which gets databased, and improves search results.
Please take submission of this associated information seriously. A media file without associated data is not useful to us at all. Here is a sample of the associated information that we need with every media file, in its ideal format:
Species name (OK if missing or incomplete, we will fill this): Pavo cristatus – Indian Peafowl
Place: Chilapata, Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India
Date: 2009/11/08 (yyyy/mm/dd format)
Copyright: Tarun Karmakar
7. If you are adding images from a location that is not already in our database, you can add the location but please ensure that the location details are in this strict format: Specific location, District, State, India; e.g., (a) "Deban, Namdapha NP, Changlang District, Arunachal Pradesh, India.", or (b) "Songaon, Ratnagiri District, Maharashtra, India." If you are doing this, you are also encouraged to add latitude and longitude.8. Read the notes on the image submission form and double-check your submissions before ticking the "Confirm" box so that we have accurate records. It is very important that you ensure that dates and locations are entered correctly. Your records cannot be seen, reviewed and uploaded on the website until you have clicked the "Confirm" box at the end of the page on which you submit images.
9. All the information and images contributed and subsequently displayed on the website are automatically databased. The database is the backbone of all the searches and maps, and it is centred on spot records. A spot record is a record of an individual bird. One spot record may be represented by multuple images (e.g., a full view and a close-up). So, if you are contributing multiple images of the same individual taken at the same time, then those images should be uploaded at the same time as a single spot record, i.e., an "observation" (select the entire set of images for the same spot record when you upload images for that observation). Then those images will be given separate media codes but in the database they will represent the same individual/spot record/observation. If you photograph multiple individuals of a species at the same time and place, they should be uploaded separately as they represent distinct spot records.
10. After submission, each and every media file will be checked for accuracy of identification and associated data by members of the website team. Such peer review is critical in maintaining high standards of information on the website. Please check your contributions once they appear online. If you disagree with species determination by the website team or spot any other issues, write to us to discuss the reasons.
11. The copyright of individual images remains with the contributors. We ensure that the individual copyright is mentioned in every place where the images appear to give the photographers fair credit for their valuable work. However, please note that the Indian Foundation for Butterflies holds the copyright on compiled information, including the images, that is on the Birds of India website. Therefore, even if photographers hold copyright for the individual images, once contributed to the website, images cannot be retracted by the photographers because they form the copyrighted compilation on the website. Also, please read our authorship policy. Contributors implicitly agree to these guidelines and policies when they contribute their photographs and other media files to the Birds of India website.
If you face any issues in submitting images, please contact us.
You can also contribute text to species pages on this website, but first read guidelines to do so.
We look forward to your contributions to this free, citizen-contributed, peer-reviewed, reference website on Indian birds. We are all working to build this website on a voluntary basis but, as a team, we are working almost round the clock to peer-review and process your images and put them online. So please be patient if your images do not appear online immediately. Peer review sometimes takes time, but it is an important step.
Thank you in advance for your contributions to the website, and welcome to the group of contributors who make this public web-resource on Indian biodiversity so valuable for all.
Cite this page along with its URL as:
. 2023. Contributing Media Files (photos) To Birds Of India. In Satose, V., A. Bayani, V. Ramachandran, P. Roy, and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Birds of India, v. 2.17. Indian Foundation for Butterflies.
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