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About the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Female Northern Cardinal by Ryan Schain/Macaulay Library
Northern Cardinal by Ryan Schain/Macaulay Library.

All About Birds is a free resource created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and made possible by our more than 100,000 members, donors, and supporters. Here you’ll find detailed information on more than 600 North American bird species, tips on how to attract and enjoy birds, an extensive section on FAQs and answers to common problems, as well as news and feature stories from our award-winning Living Bird magazine. You can also use our search box to find pages from any other Cornell Lab websites including eBird, Project FeederWatch, NestWatch, Macaulay Library, and others.

All About Birds began in 2003 with the idea to use the relatively new medium of the World Wide Web to provide the public with basic information about North American birds. Our staff collated basic ID and life history details from our authoritative Birds of North America accounts, added a handful of cool facts for each species, supplied photos and sounds, and our Online Bird Guide was born. [update 2/8/22: Birds of North America is now part of Birds of the World.]

In the years since, we’ve expanded our offerings. We’ve incorporated the extensive archives of eBird and the Macaulay Library to add maps, sounds, images, and video. We’ve created a Web-based “instant” version of our popular Merlin Bird ID app. Our writers and editors have added ID tips, life history detail, and conservation information. And we’ve expanded our coverage of birding basics, binocular advice, bird-friendly gardening, latest news and features, and more.

Throughout, we’ve always stuck to the idea that as one of the world’s leaders in the science of ornithology, we’re perfectly positioned to answer your questions and to inspire your love of birds and bird watching. It’s right there in our mission statement: to interpret and conserve the earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. Thanks for visiting us.

More About the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Our planet is alive with birds, and there is nothing more fulfilling and potentially life-changing than observing birds and nature. As we watch and listen, birds help us understand the living world.

The challenges to the natural world are bigger than they’ve ever been before. Birds have the power to help us inform and inspire the global changes needed for humans and nature to live side by side.

Your support enables discovery of new knowledge, innovation of new technologies to reveal that knowledge, teaching to foster new leaders, inspiration to motivate change, and transforming science to action to make a difference on the ground.

Find out more about what we do: view our annual report.

Visit our organizational website for more about the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The Cornell Lab

All About Birds
is a free resource

Available for everyone,
funded by donors like you

American Kestrel by Blair Dudeck / Macaulay Library