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Lend an ear to the Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library, home to the world’s largest and oldest scientific archive of wildlife sounds

By Melissa Newcomb

In the Philippines, a streaked fantail warbler sings as it flies off into the sky before returning to its perch. A Colorado prairie dog sends out a yipping alarm to warn its neighbors of danger. In Sri Lanka, more than 20 Asian elephants and their young loudly chomp their food as they forage.

These are just a tiny sampling of the treasures in the Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library—which houses the world’s largest and oldest scientific archive of wildlife sounds, with more than 2.7 million audio recordings (not to mention some 330,000 videos and 72 million images).

Early bioacoustics recording equipment and photo at the Lab of Ornithology — Lab of Ornithology

Although the library’s primary focus is birds, it also has media of other animals—lions, frogs, whales, monkeys, seals, elephants, and more.

The collection traces its roots to 1929, when Arthur “Doc” Allen 1907, PhD 1911—one of the nation’s first professors of ornithology and the Lab’s founder—was approached by someone in the film industry asking if it would be possible to record birdsong.

Allen’s subsequent recording of three birds—a song sparrow, a house wren, and a rose-breasted grosbeak—in Ithaca’s Stewart Park on an early morning in May 1929 stands as one of the first of its kind.

Arthur Allen and colleagues with lab audio recording instruments atop a truck in the early 1930s — Rare and Manuscript Collections

“A lightbulb went on over Arthur Allen’s head,” says Mike Webster, PhD ’91, a professor of neurobiology and behavior and the library’s director.

“He had the epiphany that we could use this technology to go around the world and capture the voices and behavior of animals—especially those he thought were on the brink of extinction. So he and his students set off on a mission, and it just grew from there.”

The library remained focused on audio until the early 2000s, when it began accepting video.

The library remained focused on audio until the early 2000s, when it began accepting video.

In 2015, it vastly expanded its submission pool beyond researchers, conservationists, and other professionals when it partnered with eBird, the Lab-run platform that enables the public to share photos, details of sightings, and more.

“This really democratized it, and allowed anybody to upload recordings and photos,” Webster says, noting that more than half a million audio recordings were uploaded in 2024 alone.

“Some people still use professional audio gear, but others are getting really good at recording with an iPhone.”

some of the lab’s earliest commercial recordings of bird sounds and songs on shellac and vinyl albums — Lab of Ornithology

In April 2021, the library marked its millionth audio recording—the song of a blue-headed vireo in New Hampshire—a figure that has since more than doubled.

Over the decades, the library has become not only a vast database, but a vital resource for researchers—offering a trove of information on species, habitats, and behavior, including changes over time.

Some people still use professional audio gear, but others are getting really good at recording with an iPhone.
Director Mike Webster, PhD ’91

Webster estimates that each year, 50–100 research papers—on such subjects as ecology, evolution, taxonomy, biology, and even aerospace engineering—cite the library as a resource. But he emphasizes that it has broad appeal beyond academia.

“Anybody who’s interested in birds and nature can listen to the sounds on our website,” he says, “and get connected to the world around them.”

And now … feast your ears on a small sampling of the Macaulay Library’s recordings (some accompanied by photos from its trove of images)!

Editor's note: All audio is courtesy of the Macaulay Library, with credit attributed to the submitting recorder.