Birding on the Internet

The Internet is a vast resource. Here are some sites that I have found useful, interesting, or inspiring. Perhaps you will like them too. This list is not meant to be all inclusive. It's only a sampling of the wide world of internet birding. -- Diane Porter

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Gateways to other birding sites
State, province, and local sites
Sites devoted to certain bird groups
Sites devoted to the joy of birding
Emergency help for birds
Special-purpose birding sites
Birdhouses
Links to related sites
Places for birders to stay

Gateways to other birding sites

Birdlinks
Very complete list of birding links to the world wide web. Jack Siler's collection of links will take you to sites according to geographical location, to sites for many families and species of birds, to a listing of nearly every birding software product, to good books, tour information, trip reports, and birding FAQs.

Electronic Resources on Ornithology
Chris Majka's web site includes several of his published, rather unusual, articles on birds, and many links to other web sites.

Other Sites of Interest -- By Geographic Region
Clicking a state on the map of USA takes you a list of links for that state. This site, created by the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, is very well done and easy to use!

National Audubon Society
This site offers a list of links to all Audubon Society chapters, by state.

Bird Checklists of the United States
Northern Prairie Science Center's site with bird checklists that indicate the seasonal occurrence of birds in state, federal, and private management areas, nature preserves, and other areas of special interest in the United States.

State, province, and local sites

Birding from the North Coast
Birding around the Lake Erie shore, by Dick & Jean Hoffman, birders in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. With a Cleveland area birding site guide, the breeding birds of lake View Cemetery, local birding information, and trip reports. Links to other Ohio birding resources and The Shorebird Watcher.

Birds of the Upper Texas Coast
Everything you could want to know about birding the upper Texas coast, by David Sarkozi.

Iowa Birding
Site created by Iowa birder Ann Johnson communicates the delights of watching birds in Iowa.

Mainebirding.net
Information about birding in the state of Maine, including a page about puffins. Web site created by Paul Garrity.

Northern Prairie Science Center, Jamestown, North Dakota.
Information on birds and other biotic resources, especially in the Great Plains. Info includes distributions of breeding birds in North America, bird checklists of the United States, and waterfowl identification guides. Site created by Larry Igl.

Prairie Falcon,
Online newsletter of the Northern Flint Hills Audubon Society in Manhattan, Kansas. Updated monthly, it contains information about birding in Kansas and the Great Plains, as well as resources for environmental activists. Created by Dave Rintoul, Ph.D.

Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (SABO)
SABO has a mission: to preserve the diversity of birds and other species in biologically rich Southeastern Arizona. In cooperation with government agencies, other non-profit organizations, private landowners and local businesses, SABO offers guided walks, local tours, hummingbird identification workshops, and other classes to inform and inspire. The web site is designed by SABO's co-founders, Tom Wood and Sheri Williamson.

Seattle Audubon Society
Includes the official newsletter of the Seattle Audubon Society. Web site created and maintained by Dan Victor.

Tweeters
Serving Washington state plus British Columbia. Web site created and maintained by Dan Victor.

Sites devoted to certain bird groups

Chimney Swift Conservation Challenge
A fine account of the Chimney Swift, avian insectivore. I hope many people will visit this site and become inspired to help the Chimney Swift survive.

Hummingbirds!
The best hummingbird web site I have found. By Lanny Chambers

Sites devoted to the joy of birding

See wonderful pictures of Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Steller's Jays, and several varieties of hummingbirds at the feeders of Norm and Ginnee Shockley, in the redwoods of Northern California.

Here's Tom Richards' site. It includes a report on his birding trips with his wife to some of the best birding spots in Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley. Tom is a survivor of malignant melanoma (which you may read about on his site also if you wish). But somehow I suspect he was born with the gift of appreciating each day of his life.

F.B. Magpie Home Page
A testament to the energy, enthusiasm and intelligence of a young birder (born 1980). Wayne Hsu's interest include bird-watching, insect collecting, stamp collecting, fish-keeping, music, and computer network games. The site is named after his favorite bird, the Formosan Blue Magpie, which is profiled in one of his pages. The site includes original articles on butterflies and sharks and Wayne's own photographs and remarkably beautiful paintings of birds. A site worth visiting in a leisurely manner.

Emergency help for birds

Helping Baby Birds
Your kid brings home a baby bird she has found on the driveway. "Can I keep it?" she asks. Here is understanding and advice for this common summer event.

Sardif Wildlife Center, in Ferndale Washington State, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the care of injured birds of prey, swans & deer. It is staffed entirely by volunteers. Sardis has an educational area for the public to view some of the beautiful birds they care for. Sardis believes that you can only protect what you understand. In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught. It seems they are doing their part.

For the Birds (caring for orphaned birds, etc)
Most baby birds you find are not orphans and should not be adopted. They have left the nest in a perfectly normal way, and their parents are taking care of them. But sometimes intervention really is necessary, and then it is good to know what to do in an emergency and what kind of food and care to provide. Here is a page of practical advice from people who are licensed to care for orphaned and injured birds and who have rescued many baby birds and raised them successfully.

Special-purpose birding sites

The Peregrine Falcon Home Page
This site has the excitement of personal discovery about it. There are first-hand accounts of falcons nesting on the University of Calgary campus, with detailed diaries of the birds' progress. Beautiful photographs and drawings, life history of the Peregrine Falcon, and many links to other sites about Peregrine Falcons and other Raptors.

Bird Song Mnemonics
Tom Lorenzin has compiled a list of about 350 North American bird songs with English words, or phrases that will remind you of what a bird sounds like. Many are of his own invention after having heard, chased down, and identified particular birds. It's great to have these mnemonic devices all together in one place.

Natural History Services
Created by naturalist Dick Walton, narrator of the Birding by Ear series of tapes and CDs for learning bird songs. This site communicates his enthusiasm for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and the "history of natural history." Well illustrated throughout with colorful pictures.

Birdhouses

Violet-green Swallow House
Design for a Violet-Green Swallow House with a special entrance to restrict House Sparrows and Starlings. Page created by Dan Victor.

The Nest Box
A beautiful site that contains lots of information on bluebirds. Paintings of bluebirds, plantings for wildlife, nest boxes, feeders, baffles, personal trip reports, bluebird banding information, nice photos of bluebirds.

Homes for Birds
US Fish & Wildlife pamphlet on birdhouses, natural cavities, and nesting sites for many birds. How to build birdhouses, nest box dimensions for many species, protection from predators, suggested reading. A simple site, this one has no pictures or graphics, just good useful information if you want to entice birds to nest in your vicinity.

Links to Related Sites

eOutdoors
Gateway to many sites about the outdoors.