BirdDoc

Station journal · Bird ringing

Bird ringing software & station journal

Done with paper and Excel: BirdDoc is the station journal for bird ringing – one clean record per captured and ringed bird, entered right at the ringing table instead of on loose notes and in scattered spreadsheets. Beta

BirdDoc is bird ringing software for ornithological ringing: a digital station journal in which ringers record every captured and ringed bird directly at the ringing table as a clean dataset – instead of on paper and in Excel – and report their captures to the ringing centre as an IWM file. BirdDoc runs in the browser, is hosted in Austria and is free during the public beta.

Please note: the BirdDoc app itself is currently available in German only. This page and the sign-up are in English; the product is not (yet).

Request access For organisations

Fang-Karte

T · 0043

Kohlmeise

Parus major

Flügel
76 mm
Gewicht
18,4 g
Fettvorrat
3
Alter
Vorjährig
Geschlecht
Männlich
Datum
12.10.2025
Linz, Botanischer Garten FRE

00400041004200430044

Ring series: consecutively consumed ring numbers from station operation; the next number is the last consumed + 1.

For ringers

You ring birds yourself and want to leave paper and Excel behind? BirdDoc turns your captures into one clean capture card.

See it for ringers

For organisations & ringing centres

Deciding for a whole ringing landscape? A scheme-wide rollout: GDPR-compliant, hosted in Austria, with no lock-in.

See it for organisations

For ringers

From the notepad to the capture card

Today you note every capture at the ringing table on paper and later transcribe it laboriously into Excel. That is error-prone, entered twice and hard to search.

  • One clean capture card

    BirdDoc gathers every detail of a capture in one place, entered right at the ringing table: one record per bird instead of loose notes.

  • Smart ring numbering

    The next ring number in the series is suggested automatically: no counting off, no typos.

  • IWM export at the push of a button

    The report to the ringing centre as a ready-made IWM export, no manual work.

BirdDoc is in closed beta and free during the beta. Join the waiting list and we'll get in touch as soon as an access code opens up.

Request access

A look inside BirdDoc

The form at the ringing table

This is the very form you fill in at the ringing table while the bird is in your hand. Every completed form becomes a clean capture card like the one above: no notes, no transcribing.

Neuer Beringungseintrag

Projekt Schilf-Monitoring Neusiedlersee

Station Illmitz Schilfgürtel

Beringer:in Johanna Gruber (JGR)

Datum und Uhrzeit 28.08.2025, 06:40

Art Teichrohrsänger

Status Erstfang (e)

Ringgröße V

Ringnummer 18127

Alter 3 – Diesjährig

Geschlecht 0 – Unbekannt

Fettvorrat 2

Muskelklasse 2

Flügellänge (mm) 66

Gewicht (g) 11,8

Excel and BirdDoc

Fewer errors when recording

A spreadsheet is quick to set up, yet over time a ringing log gathers the usual errors. BirdDoc addresses exactly those, because entry is built for the ringing table.

  • Transcription

    In ExcelEvery value is typed up from the notes, a second time.

    In BirdDocEntered right at the ringing table, with no second pass.

  • Counting

    In ExcelRing numbers are counted on by hand.

    In BirdDocThe next number in the series is suggested.

  • Format

    In ExcelDates, measurements and codes written differently from cell to cell.

    In BirdDocFixed fields with one consistent format.

  • Consistency

    In ExcelEvery spreadsheet grows differently over time.

    In BirdDocOne schema for all captures, cleanly exportable as an IWM file.

For organisations & ringing centres

Roll out scheme-wide – every group stays on its own

BirdDoc can be rolled out across a whole ringing landscape, and every group keeps its own private workspace. There is no scheme-wide central authority that can see into every capture: organisations never see one another's data.

  • Data sovereignty

    All ringing data is held in Austria or the EU and processed in line with the GDPR. The organisation remains the controller (Verantwortliche) under the GDPR, BirdDoc is solely the processor (Auftragsverarbeiter).

  • No lock-in

    Every group owns its data and can export it at any time, as an IWM or EURING file. Adopting BirdDoc is therefore reversible at any time.

  • Continuity – answered honestly

    BirdDoc is run by a sole proprietorship (Einzelunternehmen), a single person. Instead of hiding that risk, we answer it openly: because your data belongs to you and can be exported at any time, you stay independent of whoever runs BirdDoc.

  • Proven at the ringing station

    BirdDoc already documents real ringing work: born as a master's thesis (Masterarbeit), proven in daily station work.

Captures
3,412
Species
74
Projects
5

For interested groups, a guided beta pilot is possible, with no fixed timeline.

Request a conversation Already have an access code? Found your organisation

BirdDoc is hosted in Austria. All ringing data stays in Austria or the EU, GDPR-compliant and with no third-party tracking.

Pricing Beta

  • Now BirdDoc is free during the public beta.
  • From 1.0 One licence per organisation – never per head.
  • Beta cohort Anyone who founds during the beta keeps a preferential price permanently, even after 1.0.