After 15 years of being members, taking the Bird Biology home study course, submitting 2,319 E-Bird entries and paying countless visits to their website www/allaboutbirds.org, my wife and I finally made a pilgrimage to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York. It exceeded expectations.
Immediately, we were impressed by the lab’s architecture and the way it fit into the natural habitat. It resembles a modern-day ark drifting through the wetlands. Lori and I set out for a walk in the 226-acre reserve, Sapsucker Woods. Four miles of trails pass through forest, over board walks, along ponds and through wetlands. Even on a hot day in July we tallied fifteen species of birds in the first half-hour of our walk including a curious and vocal Blue-headed Vireo.
The soft cedar chip trail made it possible to hear bird vocalizations. Black-capped Chickadee families travelled together with their young who were food-begging in their tinny chickadee tones, fluttering their feathers to get attention from their parents. A Red-winged Blackbird baby sat in the middle of a shrub awaiting its meal soon to be delivered by its father. These sights and sounds occurred within 20 feet of the trail, partly because it was designed to be quiet.
At 8:30 AM we joined 
the organized group for a bird walk led by a local volunteer. Our group consisted of a dozen people ranging in age from 9 – 70. The nine-year-old boy was a terrific spotter. So was the next youngest, a young woman who works at a nature center in Buffalo, NY. The others were enthusiastic beginners from New York and neighboring states.
Early on we saw a family of Wood Ducks consisting of a female, her mascara-like eye lining and abalone-blue speculum in full view, and her brood of six ducklings . The always charismatic Great Blue Heron made an appearance, as did a female Belted Kingfisher displaying her rufous “belt” and two Eastern Kingbirds in their elegant plumage. An Eastern Pewee called persistently, and then appeared 25 feet above us alternately flycatching and returning to its perch on a bare branch where it vocalized “Pee-ah-wee!”
By the end of our walk, we had seen 27 species in the midst of family-rearing, feeding and territory-defense activities. It was a fine show, especially considering the time of year and the weather.
We then entered the Cornell Lab building which opened at 10 AM on this Sunday morning. A magnificent viewing area designed to facilitate bird-watching on two levels of the building is the first thing you notice. Feeders and habitat were just outside the windows. A few spotting scopes were stationed inside to view the surrounding ponds and wetlands.
Further inside the building murals and exhibits depicted the evolution and geographic ranges of birds throughout the world. Their evolutionary journey from dinosaurs to avifauna (birds) was artistically displayed along the lab’s main stairway. A well-stocked birding supply and gift shop run by Wild Birds Unlimited offers all matter of optics, books, clothing and feeders. Prints of John James Audubon’s Birds of America collection are stored nearby.
The second floor has an impressive collection of original bird paintings by the famous artist Luis Fuentes Agassiz along with a hand-painted collection of wooden replicas of bird eggs made by Johannes Paulsen to look authentic. They absolutely do!
Equally impressive was a hummingbird taxidermy display of 90 species from all over the western hemisphere collected in the late 1800’s. Many of the species were familiar to Lori and me from our journeys to Central and South America.
Back on the ground floor, we watched an eight-minute film that eloquently stated the lab’s mission while unbelievable footage of birds and other wildlife in spectacular areas were shown. The lab’s director John Fitzpatrick summarized the work of the Cornell Lab and offered this hopeful vision: “Humans are in charge of this planet…We can live side-by-side with nature in stable systems.”
The entire Lab makes a statement: Birds and their conservation are absolutely worthy of an institution of this caliber. Far beyond the building, the Cornell Lab continues with its outstanding educational, research and conservation programs. In the words of Lab director Fitzpatrick: “Interpreting and conserving inspire everything we do.”
One of these programs, E-Bird, has struck a chord world-wide. E-Bird is a website where anyone can join for free, report and manage their bird sightings anywhere in the world. As of this writing, 412,525 birders from 252 countries participate in E-Bird. All of this information is compiled, providing extensive citizen science input and valuable trend data. Prior to E-Bird, data on bird behavior, migration and ecology was compiled by universities, government, nonprofits or private entities. Now these organizations have a valuable partner: 412,000+ citizen scientists.
E-bird has also proven effective in encouraging younger people to become involved in birds and conservation; many of the top E-birders are under 30. It appeals to their tech-savvy and competitive instincts, as well as to their desire to contribute to the science and conservation of birds and most important – to experience nature.
We departed Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Sapsucker Woods with a warm glow of inspiration. It was uplifting to see how humans are applying the best available science and field data to study and conserve bird populations, which have much to do with the welfare of our own human population.
Want to get involved? You can find out about memberships at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at this site: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/page.aspx?pid=1782
