This site is a searchable encyclopedia of thousands of photos, descriptions, sound recordings, and other information about individual animal species. Find out about amphibians, arthropods, birds, fishes, insects, mammals, mollusks, reptiles, and sharks. Explore special features on mammals, skulls, and frog calls. Students are invited to contribute.

Test your knowledge about animals and birds.

The purpose of this resource is to observe when selected bird species first arrive at your study site, and to count the numbers until few or none of these birds are seen. Students select a common and easily identifiable bird species in their region and observe when the bird species first arrives. Students use binoculars or telescopes to scan a study site and count how many they see. They continue to observe every other day until few or none of the selected species can be seen.

See the many birds that spend their summer in the Arctic in this video segment from Nature.

Based on a performance by Beth Galston, Ellen Sebring, and Sarah Skaggs. 'Aviary' is a melancholic mood piece that deals with themes of constraint and freedom. In this short sequence, images of a bird flying are superimposed over the figure of a lone female floating in a swimming pool.

This collection of images of 10 different birds illustrates the diversity of bird beaks.

There are almost as many types of bird beaks as there are types of food that birds like to eat. This collection of images shows a wide range of beaks and the types of foods handled by each.

This module describes how a matched filter algorithm is used to identify birdcall audio files.

Students are asked to explain the characteristics of the bird in flight and how adaptations would allow the bird to fly a particular way.

Some birds, especially owls, produce pellets as waste. These pellets usually contain undigested fur and bones from whatever animal the owl has eaten. You can pick through these pellets to discover what owls eat.

Students compare and contrast birds' bills and compare them to household items.

This is a quiz about birds

In this Nature video, learn about the extraordinary impact that birds have on the agriculture of a small Indian community.

Birds of a Feather shows a variety of birds and asks students to explain the expression: Birds of a feather flock together.

Animal behavior is often downplayed in general biology labs. Problems include where to deal with the topic in the syllabus, time constraints and special equipment needs, and the unpredictable nature of behavioral responses. Birdsong playback offers a solution to these problems. Birdsong relates well to several important conceptual areas of biology. Its acoustic features can be investigated easily using desktop computers, and it is a fairly reliable behavioral response obtainable in the field. This lab provides general background information about birdsong, explores the structure of birdsong using acoustic analysis computer software, and offers field experience in playback techniques.

Join us on a special trip up to Bathurst Island to record birdsongs, and learn about how you can use bird observations to create scientific inquiry in your classroom using ebird.org and birds.cornell.edu/birdsleuth.

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they learn about paleontology with a hands-on activity. The activity opens with an explanation covering how fossilized bones are usually very delicate and buried deeply in rock fossils. Students are then given step-by-step directions for working with a friend to create two make-believe dig sites by burying bones in plaster of Paris. The activity ends with three discussion questions: What was surprising about excavating the bones? What strategies did you find worked well for removing the plaster? How would you have worked differently if you had no idea what was buried inside?

Excellent ENFO activity sheet with information and questions concerning the care of birds.

This OLogy activity offers kids a fun way to show off their dinosaur knowledge. The activity begins by telling kids to pick a topic and title for their Mesozoic Museum, and provides a book list to help them research their selection. It then provides a list of materials and directions for setting up an exhibit that includes explanatory caption cards. Kids are urged to invite friends and family to the Mesozoic Museum, soliciting feedback and testing how well their exhibit communicated knowledge. As inspiration, the activity also includes a pictorial look at the construction of a dinosaur exhibit at the AMNH.