Category Archives: education

Learn About Birds From Anywhere: New Online Webinar and Course Offerings

New online-learning offerings are the latest additions to the Cornell Lab’s collection of educational materials. The options now range from live, one-hour webinars with an expert ornithologist all the way to an in-depth, college-level correspondence course with a 1,200-page textbook. If you enjoy watching and learning about birds, you might like the chance to investigate [...]

Lecture and New Book Chronicle Epic Quest for Birds-of-Paradise

Thirty-nine of the most gorgeous, outlandish animals in the world—the birds-of-paradise—live only in New Guinea, associated islands, and adjacent tropical Australia. Though they’ve been known for centuries from paintings and specimens, it’s only now that all 39 can be admired in glorious photographic detail, thanks to ground-breaking work by Cornell Lab biologist Ed Scholes and [...]

Celebrate Urban Birds hosts Latino youths for informal summit

 “It feels so fragile!” said Alexis, cupping a tiny Song Sparrow in her hands for the first time. On a hot, sunny August day, Alexis and two dozen other teens were visiting the Cornell Lab as part of an informal summit of Latino youth. Hosted by the Lab’s Celebrate Urban Birds project, the trip capped [...]

Welcome, Red-tailed Hawk Class of 2012 [Slideshow and Videos]

This week we saw the first of our three young Red-tailed Hawks leave the nest, with one big step and then a long glide toward the oak trees across the street. The youngster came back the next day, watched one of his siblings fledge, and then took off again—this time looking decidedly more skillful in [...]

Cornell Lab Helps Artist Maya Lin Ask “What is Missing?” on Earth Day 2012

Renowned artist Maya Lin—whose artwork and architecture over the past three decades has included the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama—has chosen Earth as the subject of her last memorial. And she chose the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to help tell the story. Entitled What is Missing?, [...]

An Index to Our Updated Species Accounts

  We’re steadily working to improve the offerings in our All About Birds online species guide. It’s our goal to eventually feature detailed ID information, photos, natural history, cool facts, sound recordings, and videos for all 700+ birds that live in North America. Right now we have basic information for some 587 species, and we’re [...]

Cornell Lab director talks GBBC on Bird Calls Radio [listen now!]

Update: You can now listen to the archive of this broadcast at Bird Calls Radio It’s a week before the start of the 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, or GBBC for short. If you’re new to the count, or just want to hear more about how and why it’s done, tune in to Bird [...]

Arts and Nature Workshop youth scholarships: apply by Dec 31

The Cornell Lab’s Celebrate Urban Birds project will host an Arts and Nature Workshop in Ithaca, New York on February 1–2, 2012. We’re awarding a limited number of travel scholarships to attend. The workshop will be bilingual (English and Spanish), and project leader Karen Purcell encourages Latino and other underserved youth to apply. “We are [...]

Teachers and students in Mexico and the U.S. connect over birds

If a half-ounce songbird can visit eastern North America’s woods and Mexico’s tropical forests in a single year, why shouldn’t the students who study them—at least virtually? The Cornell Lab’s director of education, Nancy Trautmann, just returned from a visit to Mexico where teachers laid the groundwork for having students from both countries share what [...]