I really like this conversation - bird song absolutely feels like valid evidence of presence. In many cases, it’s even more reliable than a blurry photo! There are species I’ve only ever confirmed by sound, especially during migration or dense foliage seasons.
Having a clearer way to classify or tag vocalizations on iNat, like song, alarm call, or flight note, could really enhance the dataset. Even if photos dominate most submissions, expanding how we record “presence” would make citizen science more inclusive - not everyone can get a picture. Still, lots of us can recognize a call or record audio. It’d also help connect iNat’s data better with platforms like Xeno-Canto that already focus on acoustic evidence.