Macaulay Library Launches “Big Year” Expeditions

A 365-day quest for recordings of North American birds

By Pat Leonard and Miyoko Chu
BirdScope, Spring 2007

Whiskered Auklet. Photo courtesy USGS

In 1935, the Laboratory of Ornithology's founder, Arthur "Doc" Allen, led an expedition across the United States to record, for the first time, the sounds and images of as many birds as possible. Since then, recordists from the Lab and around the world have added to this extraordinary archive, the largest of its kind in existence today. Yet, even with more than 170,000 audio recordings and 50,000 video clips, the collection still needs footage and sounds of North America's most challenging species—those that are rare, elusive, or difficult to record.

Now, in a race against time, the Lab's Macaulay Library has embarked on an ambitious effort to fill the gaps. Called the "Big Year," it is modeled after the "Big Day," in which birders try to find as many species as possible in 24 hours. During the Big Year, the Macaulay Library's staff and collaborators will travel across the continent to capture as many of the missing recordings as possible. The quest is especially urgent because some species are disappearing from North America at unprecedented rates.

The goal is to ensure that sounds and footage of all North American bird species are recorded and accessible to everyone. "Such a complete collection would have a genuinely timeless value for research, public education, conservation, and much more," says Lab director John Fitzpatrick.

Videographers and audio recordists will journey to destinations in the southeastern United States, Alaska, and Canada, including Newfoundland and Labrador. They will capture high-definition video and stereo or surround-sound audio of the birds' fascinating behaviors wherever the target birds are courting, nesting, or otherwise sounding off. The target list includes hundreds of species that are missing or poorly represented in the multimedia collection.

Dovekie, photo by Tim Gallagher

The logistics are daunting because so many of the birds are rare or elusive, says Greg Budney, acting director of the Macaulay Library. They live in extreme climates or in habitats that are difficult to reach. The Gray-headed Chickadee, for example, is a rare species that in North America is found only in northern Alaska and the Yukon. The Dovekie is a diminutive, penguin-like seabird that rarely ventures inland. Some birds are easy to find, but difficult to record. Shorebirds gather in large numbers, but the sound of the surf often obscures their vocalizations. Other high-priority birds include sea ducks, such as scoters and eiders, as well as Horned and Tufted puffins, striking seabirds with black-and-white plumage and colorful bills.

Although the Big Year is expected to fill crucial gaps in the archive, it will take many more years to create a complete collection showing all of the birds' many behaviors—singing, calling, courting, nesting, sleeping, bathing, fighting, feeding, flying, and more. Meanwhile, sounds and video footage from the Big Year will be accessible online, along with the other digital recordings in the Macaulay Library—an unparalleled resource for researchers, educators, film and video producers, and conservationists all over the world.

You can watch video and listen to sounds from some of the Big Year expeditions and access the Macaulay Library's collection. Learn more about how you can sponsor an expedition.