Cornell Lab Resources
Monitoring birds is an essential part of protecting them. But tracking the health of the world’s 11,000+ bird species is an immense challenge. That’s where you and your learners come in. Scientists need hundreds of thousands of people to report what they’re seeing in every type of setting from around the world. No matter what aspect of birds you love most, there’s a participatory-science project that needs you. Whether you want to participate once a year or once a day, below are a few of our favorite projects.
eBird
Use eBird, online or download the app, and help scientists and birds. Learners can even use their own data to ask and answer local questions and track local bird populations through time.
Image: Golden-browed Chlorophonia by Gabriel Willow / Macaulay Library
Project FeederWatch
Count the birds that visit your outdoor spaces and other locales in North America from November to April. Participating allows you to track what is happening to birds around your community and contribute important data to scientists who need to know more about where birds are and how they are doing.
Image: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Douglas Cioffi / Macaulay Library
NestWatch
Learn how to find and monitor bird nests without disturbing the nesting birds. Then record data on species, eggs, and young. Your student’s contributions help scientists understand how climate change, habitat changes, and land use affect breeding birds.
Image: American Robin by Kevin Lee / Macaulay Library
Great Backyard Bird Count
Go birding with your class, during a 4-day count held over a long weekend in February, using Merlin or eBird to enter your observations. This is an easy entry point into birding for participatory science because you only need to do one 15-minute count and you can use Merlin to contribute your data.
Image: Susan Hobart
Global Big Day
Join millions of people from around the globe that go birding on a single day twice a year (in May and October), and enter your records into eBird. These events are ideal for nature or community centers because they occur on Saturdays.
Image: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Software Programs
Raven Lite
Raven Lite is a free software program that lets users record, save, and visualize sounds as spectrograms and waveforms. Raven Lite is intended for students, educators, and hobbyists, and can be used for learning about sounds, as an aid in birdsong recognition, and in musical instruction.
Image: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Learning Games
Flap to the Future
The Cornell Lab’s Bird Academy created Flap to the Future to help players understand the adaptations birds evolved that help them fly. How birds evolved flight is still hotly debated by biologists and paleontologists, so what we’ve presented is a simplification of lots of fascinating scientific knowledge and questioning.
Image: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
BeastBox
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has teamed up with Ben Mirin (Wildlife DJ and beatboxer) to bring you BeastBox. Make your own music by mixing wild animal voices with beatbox loops and unlock Beast Mode by adding 5 animals from the same ecosystem.
Image: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Bird Song Hero
Train your brain to recognize over 50 bird songs with the Bird Song Hero matching game. Listen closely to featured songs and match each with the correct spectrogram visualization. You’ll be harnessing the power of the visual brain to help you identify the unique qualities of each song and commit sound patterns to memory.
Image: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Merlin App
Identify the birds you see or hear with Merlin Bird ID app, a free, global bird identification guide with photos, sounds, maps, and more.
Image: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Bird Academy
Enhance your teaching about birds and nature with interactive learning games or extend your own learning with comprehensive online courses.
Image: Darcy Rose
Bird Cams
Gain an up-close, 24/7 view of the natural world of birds through our streaming feeder and nest cams. You can explore birds from around the world.
Image: Keel-billed Toucan by Deborah Bifulco / Macaulay Library
All About Birds
Discover cool facts, bird id tips, life history, and more about birds through our popular digital bird guide.
Image: Glittering-bellied Emerald by Marky Mutchler / Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library
Introduce students to the wonders of the animal world through our vast collection of photos, sounds, and videos.
Image: Black-and-white Warbler by Martina Nordstrand / Macaulay Library
Conservation Media
Inspire your students with stunning videos that bring bird conservation and environmental stewardship to life.
Image: Whimbrel and Marbled Godwits by Andy Johnson / Macaulay Library