Top Ten Birding-for-Science Projects

Whether you want to improve your birding skills, keep track of your sightings, or share your discoveries with others, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers something for everyone.

1. All About Birds. Visit www.allaboutbirds.org to access a wealth of information about 585 bird species, find out about birding basics, watch Inside Birding videos, get answers to your questions, read our blog, and more!

2. Celebrate Urban Birds. This fun and accessible program, atwww.celebrateurbanbirds.org, provides a wide variety of activities involving the visual arts, container-gardening, bird feeding, and more to help people discover and celebrate the birds in their lives.

3. eBird. Report the birds you see, from backyard feeder birds to those you see on birding excursions, at www.ebird.org. eBird will keep track of your lists for you and will help you find the birds in your locality.

4. Macaulay Library. Explore the world’s largest archive of animals sounds and videos by visiting www.macaulaylibrary.org.

5. NestCams. Watch the nesting cycle unfold without human disturbance and witness behaviors that are beautiful, fascinating, and extraordinary atwww.nestcams.org.

6. CamClickr. At www.camclickr.org, you can put your observation skills to the test as you help us sort and tag 8 million archived NestCam images. It’s a fun way to learn about animal behavior while helping scientists.

7. NestWatch. At www.nestwatch.org, you can discover safe ways to find and monitor nests, build nest boxes, and contribute to the knowledge base about nesting birds.

8. Project FeederWatch. This project, started in 1987 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada, has enlisted more than 40,000 people from every state and province to amass more than 1.5 million checklists, allowing scientists to identify species of concern, track changes in distribution and abundance of native and nonnative species, gain an understanding of how novel pathogens affect bird populations, and more. Join us at www.feederwatch.org.

9. Project PigeonWatch. This fun and easy project will teach you about city pigeons and how to watch pigeons for science. You’ll learn cool facts and increase your awareness of nature in your neighborhood. Visit www.pigeonwatch.org for more information.

10. Birdshare. Visit www.flickr.com/groups/birdshare, where nearly 1,200 people post, share, and discuss more than 35,000 pictures of birds. Each photo is tagged with the bird’s common and scientific names. When you contribute your photos to this group, you give the Cornell Lab of Ornithology permission to reproduce your photos on the Lab’s ever-expanding websites.

Originally published in the Spring 2010 issue of BirdScope.