Great Library of Sound and Video

TRC thought you would love to explore a great site to find audio and video of your favorite animals, among other things!  The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is the world's largest and oldest scientific archive of biodiversity audio and video recordings. The mission is to collect and preserve recordings of each species' behavior and natural history, to facilitate the ability of others to collect and preserve such recordings, and to actively promote the use of these recordings for diverse purposes spanning scientific research, education, conservation, and the arts.  About 9,000 species are represented. There’s an emphasis on birds but the collection also includes sounds of whales, elephants, frogs, primates, and more.

The recordings are used by researchers studying many questions, as well as by birders trying to fine-tune their sound ID skills. The recordings are also used in museum exhibits, movies, and commercial products such as smartphone apps. For example, a reserve manager in Africa could use the recordings to train staff to conduct an acoustic survey. A teacher could pull out the sounds of ten birds found on the school grounds and create an interactive learning tool for her students.  We think you'll have fun just learning for youself!