Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Sound Archives

Sound Archives

From its earliest days, the Cornell Lab has had a special interest in bird and animal sounds. Founder Arthur Allen and his students were pioneers in the field, recording the first bird songs on a film sound track.

The world's largest collection of natural sounds is held in the climate-controlled archives of the Lab's Macaulay Library. There are more than 165,000 recordings of birds, bats, whales, insects, frogs, elephants, and other animals. Macaulay Library recordists continue to mount expeditions to collect wildlife sounds and images from around the world to expand the archive.

These sounds are used by researchers around the world. They have also been used in everything from museum exhibits and Hollywood movies to singing alarm clocks and handheld PDAs that help users identify birds in the field. These sounds are used in the Cornell Lab's extensive list of audio guides. The Macaulay Library also contains a growing collection of high-definition video. Anyone can listen to recordings and watch videos in the archive.

Each year the experts from Macaulay Library hold the week-long Sound Recording Workshop in the Tahoe National Forest. Participants learn how to effectively handle a portable field recording system to make scientifically accurate recordings.