Welcome

In two centuries of American ornithology, The Birds of North America (BNA) is only the fourth comprehensive reference covering the life histories of North American birds. Following in the footsteps of Wilson, Audubon, and Bent, BNA makes a quantum leap in information beyond what these historic figures were able to provide. The print version of BNA was completed in 2002, a joint 10 year project of the American Ornithologists' Union, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Now as an online project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BNA is poised to become a living resource. Account contents are updated frequently, with online-coordinated contributions from researchers, citizen scientists, and designated reviewers and editors. In addition, BNA Online contains image and video galleries showing behaviors, habitat, nests, eggs and nestlings, and more. And each online species account contains recordings of that bird's songs and calls, selected from the extensive collection in Cornell's Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds.

News & Updates

Update (August 2008)--New Fully Revised Account-- Northern Flicker, revised by Karen L. Wiebe.

Update (August 2008)--New Fully Revised Account-- Savannah Sparrow, revised by N.T. Wheelwright and J.D. Rising.

Update (August 2008)--New Fully Revised Account-- Ruby-crowned Kinglet, revised by David L. Swanson.

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Update (July 2008)--New Fully Revised Account-- Least Flycatcher, revised by Scott Tarof.

Update (July 2008)--New Fully Revised Account-- Harris's Sparrow, revised by C.J. Norment.

Update (July 2008)--With the expertise of Dr. Michael Patten (Univ. of Oklahoma) and Peter Pyle (staff scientist at IBP), we are embarking upon a database-wide revision of two of the trickiest sections in a BNA account, the Systematics article (Patten), which details subspecies and related species information, and the Appearances article (Pyle), which concentrates upon the various molts and plumages in a given species. Their contributions will be ongoing. Some of their latest work can be found in the Least Bittern, American Bittern, White-crowned Sparrow, Tufted Titmouse and the Savannah Sparrow accounts.


Complete Archives of News & Updates