There’s a clear split in public opinion about The Big Year. While typical moviegoers basically yawned a collective yawn, bird watchers generally saw it as a sweet, gentle movie with refreshing care paid to the details (see comments on our overall review and detailed review for more reactions). So we thought it would be interesting [...]
It’s not every day you get a chance to look back in time at a bird that probably no longer exists. But Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientists were able to do that with the spectacular Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico, when researcher Martjan Lammertink tracked down the only known film footage ever taken of this raven-sized [...]
“These are happy birds—and they want to help you learn,” writes one reviewer about “My Bird World,” a collection of four interactive bird games that teach children about 24 species of North American birds. The game was co-produced by Five Ravens, the digital division of Birdcage Press, and the Cornell Lab for use on the [...]
Bird-watching is a year-round activity, and to help you keep track of your plans—or just keep some colorful birds decorating your wall, we’re offering you a free bird calendar. We produce this calendar every year so that participants in Project FeederWatch can mark off their count days and keep a record of cool things they’ve [...]
After watching The Big Year on Friday, our group convened to hash out what we thought. We liked the movie a lot, but as we talked about nitpicky details and larger themes, the reactions were wide-ranging. Among our group was one person with a life list over 3,000 species, several more experts, some casual birders, [...]
Last night, about 25 of my coworkers and their family members went to the opening of The Big Year. We had been looking forward to the movie with a mixture of excitement and apprehension: bird watching isn’t often treated kindly (or accurately) in movies, and mistakes are so common that sometimes it seems like Hollywood [...]
The Big Year movie opened last night, and audiences poured in to watch Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson race around the countryside wielding binoculars. The birds and bird names came thick and fast—and I’m sure some people wondered how anyone learns to identify so many of anything. But like anything, it’s mainly practice—and [...]
Yesterday we suggested a few good books about birding (and got many more from commenters and Facebook fans—thanks!). But you can’t read all the time—so here are a few moments of video to immerse you in the color, sound, behavior, and diversity of birds. These first five are our own multimedia productions (see more at [...]
The Big Year movie hits theaters on Friday. We’re looking forward to it, and regardless of whether Owen Wilson, Jack Black, or Steve Martin really find what they’re looking for (hint: this is Hollywood, so I think we’ll find they’re searching for something bigger than birds), we’re taking this opportunity to review what bird watching [...]
