The Macaulay Library is the world's largest archive of animal media. It includes more than 33 million photographs, 1.2 million audio recordings, and over two hundred thousand videos [1] covering 96 percent of the world's bird species. [2] There are an ever-increasing numbers of insect, fish, frog, and mammal recordings. The Library is part of Cornell Lab of Ornithology of Cornell University.
Arthur Augustus Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg made the first recordings of bird sound on May 18, 1929, in an Ithaca park. They used motion-picture film with synchronized sound to record a song sparrow, a house wren, and a rose-breasted grosbeak. This was the Beginning of Cornell Library of Natural Sounds. Graduate student Albert R. Brand and Cornell undergraduate M. Peter Keane developed recording equipment for use in the open field. In the next two years they had successfully recorded more than 40 species of birds. In 1931, Peter Keane and True McLean (a Cornell professor in electrical engineering) designed and built a parabolic reflector for field recordings of bird songs. They used World War I parabola molds from the Cornell Physics Department. In 1940, Albert R. Brand produced an extensive bird song field guide album "American Bird Songs". The sales of phonograph records of bird sounds remained a key source of income for the Lab of Ornithology since these days. [3]
In 2020 the Internet Bird Collection (IBC) was incorporated into the Macaulay Library, which now hosts all of the content contained in the IBC. [2]
The basic data of the modern recordings contains:
The name of Macaulay Library honors Linda and William (Bill) Macaulay, who donated a significant campaign contribution to fund the new facility (2003) of the library at Sapsucker Woods. [3] Linda Macaulay added also nearly 6,000 individual birdsong recordings of over 2,600 species. [5]
Bioacoustics is a cross-disciplinary science that combines biology and acoustics. Usually it refers to the investigation of sound production, dispersion and reception in animals. This involves neurophysiological and anatomical basis of sound production and detection, and relation of acoustic signals to the medium they disperse through. The findings provide clues about the evolution of acoustic mechanisms, and from that, the evolution of animals that employ them.
The brown-headed nuthatch is a small songbird endemic to pine forests throughout the Southeastern United States. Genetic analyses indicated low differentiation between northern and southern populations in Florida, but the study also found lower genetic diversity among south Florida populations that may be a result of the increased habitat fragmentation that was documented. The Bahama nuthatch was formerly considered a subspecies (S. p. insularis), has since been reclassified as its own separate species. Two recent studies assessing vocalizations in Bahama and continental nuthatch populations found important differences. One of the studies also demonstrated that continental and Bahama populations did not respond aggressively to calls of the other population. This type of call-response study is often used to help define cryptic species.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary. Approximately 250 scientists, professors, staff, and students work in a variety of programs devoted to the Lab's mission: interpreting and conserving the Earth's biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. Work at the Lab is supported primarily by its 100,000 members and supporters.
The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō or ʻōʻōʻāʻā was the last member of the ʻōʻō (Moho) genus within the Mohoidae family of birds from the islands of Hawaiʻi. The entire family is now extinct. It was previously regarded as a member of the Australo-Pacific honeyeaters . The bird was endemic to the island of Kauaʻi. It was common in the subtropical forests of the island until the early twentieth century, when its decline began. It was last seen in 1985, and last heard in 1987. The causes of its extinction include the introduction of predators, mosquito-borne diseases, and habitat destruction.
Theodore Albert "Ted" Parker III was an American ornithologist who specialized in the Neotropics. He "was widely considered the finest field birder / ornithologist that the world had ever seen."
The yellow-billed kingfisher(Syma torotoro) is a medium-sized tree kingfisher.
The blackish cinclodes is a Near Threatened passerine bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Chile, and on the Falkland Islands, where it is known as the tussac-bird or tussock-bird.
The Tachira antpitta is a Critically Endangered bird species in the family Grallariidae. It is endemic to Venezuela.
The forest kingfisher, also known as Macleay's or the blue kingfisher, is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Halcyoninae, also known as tree kingfishers. It is a predominantly blue and white bird. It is found in Indonesia, New Guinea and coastal eastern and Northern Australia. Like many other kingfishers, it hunts invertebrates, small frogs, and lizards.
The red-backed kingfisher is a species of kingfisher in the subfamily Halcyoninae, also known as tree kingfishers. It is a predominantly blue-green and white bird with a chestnut rump. It is found across the continent of Australia, mainly inhabiting the drier regions.
The Colombian crake is a species of bird in the subfamily Rallinae of the rail, crake, and coot family Rallidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.
The screaming piha is a species of passerine bird in the family Cotingidae. It is found in humid forests in the Amazon and tropical parts of the Mata Atlântica in South America. They are most notable for their extraordinarily loud voice.
Lagden's bushshrike is a bird species in the bushshrike family (Malaconotidae) native to Africa. It is a stocky bird with yellow or orange-yellow underparts, olive green upperparts, a grey head and heavy bill. Two subspecies are recognised, one found in west Africa and one in central Africa.
The Rio de Janeiro antwren is a bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is endemic to Brazil.
Urich's tyrannulet is an Endangered species of bird in subfamily Elaeniinae of family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is endemic to Venezuela.
The large-billed scrubwren is a passerine bird in the family Acanthizidae, endemic to eastern Australia. It is found in denser undergrowth in temperate forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The plain-tailed wren is a species of songbird in the family Troglodytidae. It has a mostly rufous body with a gray, black, and white striped head. It is found in the Andes of southern Colombia, Ecuador, and northern Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Plain-tailed wrens are so-called bamboo specialists and live almost exclusively in chusquea bamboo thickets. Like other wrens, its diet consists mainly of insects with some seeds and berries.
Lynx Nature Books is a Spanish publishing company specializing in ornithology and natural history. It was formerly named Lynx Edicions.
The Torresian kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is found in southern New Guinea and in Australia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, mangroves, and plantations. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the collared kingfisher.
Albert Rich Brand was an author and innovator in the recording of bird songs. Herbert J. Seligmann wrote Man and Bird Together: A Portrait of Albert R. Brand about him.