Cornell Lab of Ornithology has an AWESOME online resource of North American Bird information called Birds of North America Online. Originally, this was a series of booklets written by the top experts in the field on a particular bird species. You could purchase individual species booklets or the whole shebang for $1500.
In the last few years, Cornell has put all of that info online and it’s updated regularly. To view it, you simply need a subscription ($42 per year or $5 per month for the entire set). It’s a valuable resource and perfect for anyone wanting the latest and most in depth info on a specific bird.
Today, Cornell announced that would open up profiles 15 bird species threatened by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The open-access accounts are for the 10 species featured in the eBird Gulf Coast Oil Spill Tracker and five additional species:
- Brown Pelican
- Wilson’s Plover
- Clapper Rail
- Royal Tern
- Reddish Egret
- American Oystercatcher
- Roseate Spoonbill
- Snowy Plover
- Seaside Sparrow
- Red Knot
- Tricolored Heron
- Snowy Egret
- White Ibis
- Sandwich Tern
- Sanderling
Cornell said in a statement, “Our intent is to help anyone who’s looking for information about birds in harm’s way; who needs specific answers to questions about life history, population or conservation status, migration schedules, feeding or nesting behavior, etc.; and people who need a quick, comprehensive introduction to the scientific literature about a species.”
A valuable and accurate resource indeed for researchers or the news media who might need some background info on some of the oiled birds being found. Even if you are not on the Gulf Coast, take a moment and glance through some of the species profiles. The information compiled is amazing.
RT—THANKYOU
Information is power, and knowing and therefore caring about these birds totally makes me want to help in any way I can. Cornell is wonderful for doing this.
My sister had noticed yesterday that eBird suddenly had added new oiled options when entering certain bird’s details. We were wondering what they were going to do with that info.
Thanks, Jody!
Kitanne–it’s an organized, university supported centralized location for reporting birds. We need this. There rumors on FB and Twitter of bp firing people for the way they are mapping the spill, as in bp pressuring them to under report. That is just an internet rumor at this point but if it is remotely true, we need independent observers to report oiled wildlife to make sure we are getting a clear picture of what is happening.
Thanks for helping spread the word about this, Sharon, and for your own coverage of this wretched situation. – Hugh
We see almost all of those species at the farm (Falls County, Texas- quite a ways inland) at certain times of the year, presumably migrating to or from the gulf? (I’m not a bird person, as evidenced by my complete inability to identify house finches
) We already maintain a fairly significant chunk of the farm as waterfowl habitat- should we be looking for visiting birds with oil? If so, when?