BirdBrains

Ethics

American Birding Association's Code of Ethics. Everyone who enjoys birds and birding must always respect wildlife, its environment, and the rights of others. In any conflict of interest between birds and birders, the welfare of the birds and their environment comes first.

Courses

Cornell Lab's "Courtship and Rivalry in Birds" online course. This five-week course is your key to developing new bird observation skills and new understanding of bird behavior. You will use videos of bird behavior, online discussions, and interactive tutorials to interpret whether birds are flirting or fighting, and why. As you progress from exploring the displays of backyard birds to examining how scientists answer questions about the most exotic birds on earth, you'll build a collection of skills and resources to continue investigating and appreciating bird behavior long after the course is over.

Celebrate Urban Birds was designed to be easy to do, easy to find, so anyone, even someone who has never thought about birds before, can do the project. Yes, for people in urban areas, and anyone, anywhere, anytime. Live in the suburbs...the country...the city? Yes, everybody can Celebrate Urban Birds in some way.

General Bird Identification Guides

All About Birds Recently added: 1,000 new photos of birds, nests, and eggs. Information on 585 species in our online bird guide. ID tips, sound, and video for 51 common species (and counting). Building Skills section for new bird watchers. Looking for a bird you don't know? Start with thumbnails and songs at Browse by name or Browse taxonomy.

Birds of North America In two centuries of American ornithology, The Birds of North America (BNA) is only the fourth comprehensive reference covering the life histories of North America’s breeding birds. Following in the footsteps of Wilson, Audubon, and Bent, BNA provides a quantum leap in information beyond what those historic figures were able to assemble. The print version of BNA was completed in 2002 – 18 volumes, 18,000 pages -- 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 becoming a living resource.

Whatbird.com-Bird Identification Guide - Whatbird.com lets you find your bird with just a few clicks. It's so accurate and fast that the Wild Bird Feeding Institute is using it to help people identify birds for Project Wildbird, their 3-year study on backyard feeding habits. Whatbird.com - the best place to find your bird

Raptor Identification Guides

Raptor ID Guide (Hawk
Migration Association of North America)

Raptor Identification Guide (NE Hawkwatch)

Raptor ID Guide

Gull Identification Guides

Gull Identification Flowchart

Swan Identification Guides

Swan Identification Guide

Shorebird Identification Guides

Dowitcher Identification Guide

Dowitcher Identification Guide Presentation

Shorebirds Identification Guide