Tweeters -

After more than a year of development, I'm happy today, to publicly
announce a new venture that combines the computer programming skills
of Michael Hobbs, my recent experience at the University of
Washington's Foster School of Business, and our joint love of birds:

FeeBird

FeeBird brings together the best elements of social networking, web
2.0 technology, and birding! The simple structure and potential for
growth promise to add new layers to the listing experience.

What is FeeBird?
FeeBird functions in much the same way as many interconnected
record-keeping databases for birders such as E-Bird, but with one
simple difference: Now your listing efforts come with a price tag!
Best of all, how much money you collect (or pay) depends on how much
effort you put in. Never before have the benefits of listing been so
tangible and fungible.

How to participate:
Step 1: Sign up at FeeBird.com, and pay a one-time enrollment fee,
good for the first year of membership. Deposit the minimum balance in
your account, and you are ready to list.

Step 2: Once you are a member, you agree to list all birds you
observe on FeeBird's online, searchable database. The more birds you
record, the better the chance that you will earn.

Step 3: Upload or manually enter your county, state , national & ABA
life lists . At present, FeeBird is only functional in the ABA area,
and only operates at the 'life list' level, but plans to expand
include both World FeeBirding, and Year FeeBirding.

Step 4: Want to find a new lifer? Just look it up on FeeBird! If
someone has reported it, you'll have up-to-date information, with
directions automatically tied to mapping software to tell you where
to go. It's that simple. Depending on which of your life-lists the
new species helps you build, FeeBird will automatically calculate and
charge you the appropriate deduction from your account:

Did a Fellow FeeBirder lead you to a county lifer? You are assessed
from $2 - $10, depending on how high your county list is [A FeeBirder
who helped you find county lifer #201 is valued more than a FeeBirder
who is only helped you find county lifer #21].

Did that FeeBirder get you a new State Lifer? The same principal
applies, with 'fees' ranging from $10 - $100. At the national and ABA
level, a similar sliding scale is involved.

It's that simple!

Best of all: You can make money off your sightings by getting out
there and birding!

Find a good bird? Bravo! If you are the first to list it on FeeBird,
you've staked your claim and are ready to collect. Now, every time
another FeeBird member chases and ticks that same bird, you collect a
'fee'. You collect $1-5 for every county lifer you 'show' another
FeeBirder, $5-$75 for every State Bird, and up to $500 for an ABA
lifer shown to a high-level lister. Just think how much you stand to
earn if you happen to be the one to lay claim to a Mega-Rarity! Never
before have your birds counted for so much.

Just added! With the blossoming of Twitter , we've rushed to add a
new feature to FeeBird, even before our formal launch! For the first
100 subscribers, a special Twitter feed will allow you to re-report
an already 'staked' out bird and claim a portion of the 'fee.'
Nevermore will you need to lament being the second person to find a
rarity.

Take the Elitism out of E-Birding and put the Fun back in with Fee-Birding!



FeeBird is available for download beginning today, April 1 , 2009.

Good, and profitable birding,

Matt Bartels
Seattle WA