How to Stay in Touch and Keep Contributing

July 8, 2021

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Bird Cams Lab! Whether you just joined this past year, or have been with us since the beginning, we sincerely thank you for being a part of our community.

Bird Cams Lab became an incredible community of curious and passionate people, and we had a lot of fun learning from and engaging with you. We are thrilled by the success of the project which engaged more than 7,600 people in six investigations. We are also grateful to every contributor as well as to the National Science Foundation which supported this work. As the project wraps up this summer, we hope you’ll stay in touch with the Bird Cams and explore additional projects that enable you to stay involved in the Bird Cams Lab spirit: working together, learning new things about birds, and doing science.

To ease this transition we have compiled a short list of these projects and programs, and have differentiated them based on whether they focus on science or focus on learning more about birds. We hope you enjoy, and invite you to share any additional projects or programs you are a part of in the comments section at the end of this post.

Jump to…

Stay in Touch with Bird Cams

Live Bird Cams

Keep watching the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s live cams for close-up views of the lives of birds across the hemispheres. Sign up for our Bird Cams eNewsletter to get fun highlights, news, and announcements about the cams. You can also stay connected to the birds and the cam community by following Bird Cams on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.

A Photography of a humming bird flying in the bottom right. The photo credits are in small white text at the bottom right as well and read, "Rufous Hummingbird by copyright Paul Fenwick | Macaulay Library." In the top left corner is a semi-transparent black box with the text "Bird Cams A virtual window into the natural world of birds The West Texas Hummingbird Cam is back, live from the Davis Mountains." Below that is an orange button with white text "Watch Cam"

Continue Doing Science 

Nest Quest Go!

Nest Quest Go! is a Cornell Lab of Ornithology project that helps scientists understand the historical nesting patterns of North American birds. You can contribute by transcribing nest-record cards that contain data from across the 20th century. Just as Bird Cams Lab collected data from video clips taken from the Bird Cams, the Nest Quest Go! community is collecting data from nest-record cards on Zooniverse.

You can also participate in other citizen-science projects on Zooniverse that look at short video clips just like we did for Bird Cams Lab, including Woodpecker Cavity Cam and PELIcams.

A screenshot of the Nest Quest Go! page on Zooniverse. The Zooniverse header navigation is at the top. There is a photo of three nestlings (baby birds) with their beaks open with text Nest Quest Go! Join us in discovering the dynamic lives of nesting birds overlayed. There is also a circle logo for the project that has the text The Cornell Lab NestWatch

NestWatch

A nationwide nest-monitoring program designed to track the reproductive success of breeding birds. Two of the Bird Cams Lab investigations sought to understand more about Red-tailed Hawks breeding above Cornell University’s athletic fields. NestWatch gives you the chance to apply what what you’ve learned to study the birds nesting in your own backyard.

A screenshot of the NestWatch website. In the middle is a photograph of a Tufted Timouse and photo credits at the bottom that read Photo copyright Enola-Gay. There is a lot of text and information, including tabs in the upper-right corner, featured content, and a short summary of what the project is.

eBird

Bird Cams Lab gave you the chance to turn your observations of what was happening on the Bird Cams into scientific discovery. eBird enables you to do the same thing by observing and recording the birds around you! New and long-time birdwatchers alike are invited to submit observations of birds, including photos and audio recordings. They store your data along with millions of others, and make them freely available to power scientific research, conservation, and education.

A screenshot of the eBird homepage. eBird is at the top left with "Bird" in black text and "e" in light green. Next to eBird is a navigation header. Below that is photo of a Lark Sparrow copy right Annie McLeod Macaulay Library. To the left of the photo is a dark blue blackground and white text "Discover a new world of birding..." and two buttons, one blue reading "Learn more" and a green button reading "get started."

Project FeederWatch

Did you love watching and learning about feeder birds as part of the Bird Cams Lab investigations? Each year starting in November, Project FeederWatch asks for help studying birds in the United States and Canada—right in your own backyard or other regular viewing location. You don’t even need a feeder! All you need is an area that attracts birds. (If you’re in the UK, you can also study backyard birds with Garden BirdWatch.)

A screenshot of the Project FeederWatch homepage. It shows two birds beside a feeder and laptop against a faded landscape. Text in the middle reads Embrace Winter. Count Feeder Birds for Science! Below that is a red button that reads Join, Renew, or Donate.

Continue Learning About Birds

Bird Academy

In Bird Cams Lab, we had the chance to learn more about the birds seen on the Bird Cams by studying them. Bird Academy gives you the opportunity to take your passion for learning about birds even further via online courses. There is something for everybody, from Joy of Birdwatching to Nature Journaling to Understanding Bird Behavior.

A screenshot of the Bird Academy homepage. There is a photo of a Barn Owl amongst yellow flowers that are out-of-focus. Overlayed on the image in the middle is I heart BIRDS Transform Your Understanding of Birds. Below is a pink button with text "Create Your Free Account Now."

Merlin

In the last Bird Cams Lab investigations, we studied the species that visit the Cornell Feeders and the Panama Fruit Feeders cam, and in doing so learned how to identify them. Take your bird identification to the next level by using Merlin. It’s an app that can help you identify a bird by either sight or sound (a brand new feature!).

A screenshot of the Merlin homepage. There is a photo of a Common Yellow Throat overlayed with text. In the bottom right corner is the photo credit that reads Common Yellowthroat by Brad Imhoff/Macaulay Library. Middle left is a semi-transparent black box with white text that reads "Identify the birds you see or hear with Merlin Bird ID Free global bird guide with photos, sounds, maps, and more." Below that are two spots to click and download for apple or android.

Are you involved in another project or program that isn’t featured here? Share it with the community in the comments section.