WEBSITES

There are many online resources available to birdwatchers. How do you figure out which ones provide accurate information? The following are some of the more useful and informative websites. Click on the site’s name to go directly to that site.

GENERAL BIRDING INFORMATION

Cornell Lab of Ornithology website
Cornell Lab of Ornithology YouTube site

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a website and a YouTube site. They have a great wealth of information online. They have How To videos on a wide range of topics from  “How to Identify a Bird” to “How to Illustrate a Bird”.  Their articles cover the whole spectrum from “What To Do When You Find a Baby Bird” to using conservation efforts to save Florida’s only endemic, the Florida Scrub-Jay. Their sites are entertaining, educational, and inspirational.

BIRD FACTS

BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL

Birdlife International has a database of information about different species. Their database is searchable by region, country, family, genus, species, common name and even habitats, threats, and IUCN Red List Criteria. Birdlife is a good source of accurate information about birds.

BIRD CALLS

XENO-CANTO
Xeno-Canto is a searchable community database of shared birdcalls from all over the world. The people behind the site are attempting to classify bird songs according to pitch, volume, length, number of notes, speed, and variability.

AVoCet
AVoCet or Avian Vocalization Center  aims to provide a global database of well-documented, downloadable bird sounds in aid of environmental and ornithological research, conservation, education, and the identification and appreciation of birds and their habitats. They have 1250 recordings of 224 species from the Philippines.

BIRD PHOTOS FOR ID
ORIENTAL BIRD IMAGES

Oriental Bird Images is the online database of the Oriental Bird Club. The database is searchable by common name and scientific name. The database is extremely useful for those who are trying to identify a bird as it contains a wide variety of clearly labelled images showing the different forms of each bird such as male, female, first year male, first winter male, adult male in breeding plumage, first summer male, in flight, immature, and so on. There is also information such as when and where the photo was taken, equipment used, English synonyms, Red Data status, remarks, and taxonomic status.