About Birds of the World

Birds of the World is a powerful ornithological research platform that brings together deep, scholarly content from several celebrated works of ornithology with millions of bird observations from eBird and multimedia from the Macaulay Library into a single platform where biologists and birders can explore comprehensive life history information on birds.

On our home page you can view nine free sample accounts that demonstrate the following features:

  • 10,906 species accounts with details on appearance, taxonomy, habitat, diet, breeding, behavior, and more.
  • 249 bird family accounts
  • Descriptions and photos of hybrids and subspecies
  • Range maps, eBird Status & Trends maps, and animated migration maps
  • Scientific illustrations of every species and many subspecies
  • Expertly curated media galleries showing the bird throughout its life cycle (photos, videos, and sound recordings from the Macaulay Library)
  • IUCN Conservation Status
  • Avian taxonomy explorer with regional filters
  • Key to Scientific Names‘ by James A. Jobling, including original description, protonym, and type locality.
  • Full Species List
  • Literature cited
  • Ornithological Notes
  • Science news blog
  • Common bird names available in more than 55 languages as well as 38 regional versions of English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Content remains in English.
  • Ongoing updates by leading ornithologists

Birds of the World is available by subscription to anyone in the world – both personal and institutional plans are available. Scholarships are available.

View the links in the left sidebar for more information.

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