My Favorite Birding Links

Well, I intended my first post to be the results of my search for drumming Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), but that pre-dawn expedition was postponed due to weather and the fact that peak drumming isn't for another 2 weeks or so. I'll post on that topic soon enough.

So instead, what I'll post is a summary of my favorite birding links:

Birdonthe.net Birdmail - The online archive of North American birding listserves. You can look up the current birding scene anywhere you want to go. Extremely useful.

Surfbirds - A true birding resource. This site contains photo galleries, birding trip reports, news, and much more. I haven't even explored the half of it yet. I do make daily check of the World Rarities and World Birding photo galleries for some really awesome birds.

Birds of North America - This is a compilation of, in short, all that is known about every species of bird in North America (north of Mexico). It is a resource like none other. You do need to pay for access, fortunately at the moment I get free access via my University's internet access, but that doesn't help all of you. I don't know what the going rate is, but if you find yourself always look up this-or-that fact of different species, then it may well be worth it to try for a year.

NaturePhotographers - This site hosts some of the best bird photography I've ever seen. There are many new posts daily, and many other galleries than just birds. Some work posted here is truly stunning.

eBird - I have not taken the plunge and become an all-out eBirder yet, but that will happen soon. This site is an online archive of all your bird sitings. Just create a location and post your lists. The beauty of it is that data is now available for all to use in looking at bird distribution and abundance seasonally, regionally, etc.

ABA Photo quiz - A fun and often challenging monthly quiz.

That is all for now,
Nick