News

A Celebration of Sound: Macaulay Library Reaches 2 Million Recordings

By Team eBird
Over the last decade, you have helped the Cornell Lab’s Macaulay Library grow tremendously and recently we reached an amazing milestone. Thanks to more than 38,403 recordists around the world, the Macaulay Library now holds more than 2 million audio recordings. These assets have supplied invaluable information for research, documented extinct species in perpetuity, powered…

The Macaulay Library Reaches New Milestones

By Macaulay Library Team
Over the last decade, you have helped the Macaulay Library grow tremendously and recently we reached two amazing milestones. Thanks to birders, photographers, and recordists, the Macaulay Library now holds more than 1.5 million audio recordings and 40 million photos. All of those assets power incredible research, birding tools, and more. The 40 millionth photo…

Recordist of Note: Robert C. Stein

By Kathi Borgmann
We’ve all seen a flycatcher or, let’s be honest, five that left us puzzled…was that an Alder Flycatcher or a Willow Flycatcher? If only that flycatcher would have uttered a few notes, then we’d have a chance at figuring out which species we spotted. We have Robert C. Stein to thank for his pioneering work…

Photos and Social Media Help Scientists Identify a Hybrid Fairywren

By Macaulay Library Team
In 2015, the Macaulay Library began accepting photos of birds alongside eBird checklists with the hopes of creating a curated collection of bird photos to help people learn more about birds. Now the Macaulay Library contains more than 36 million photos of more than 10,500 species. Scientists are now starting to tap the collection of…

Celebrate eBird’s 20th Anniversary on Global Big Day

By Team eBird
eBird is celebrating 20 years of powering data-driven approaches to science, conservation, and education through shared birding experiences. eBird launched in 2002 with a simple idea: “Record any bird you see, from anywhere and any time, then explore where the birds are!” Since the first public eBird checklist was submitted on 8 May 2002, eBird…

Photos in the Macaulay Library Help Uncover Hummingbird Feather Replacement Patterns and More

By Kathi Borgmann
The Macaulay Library started archiving photos from birders who add them to eBird checklists in 2015. Since then the library has accumulated more than 34 million photos of 10,350 species. The collection, Mike Webster, director of the Macaulay Library, says “is a gold mine for birders and researchers alike.” New research out this week in…

2021 Year in Review: eBird, Merlin, Macaulay Library, and Birds of the World

By Macaulay Library and Team eBird
2021 was a year of milestones. From one billion records in eBird, to the transformative launch of Merlin Sound ID, to new conservation decision-making tools powered by eBird Status and Trends visualizations, there’s a lot we’ll remember from the past twelve months. This year, millions of people from every country in the world joined us…