Open access journal ZooKeys announced the first rapid-release, large dataset of bird barcodes, based on 2,808 frozen tissue samples from the Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. This is the first barcode dataset explicitly published under the Fort Lauderdale Principles (Welcome Trust 2003) of early data release adopted by the genomics community. Mark and co-authors hope this is a model that will encourage and allow barcoders to rapidly release data and receive academic credit.