The diversity of birds opens a window into the living world. The All Birds Barcoding Initiative (ABBI), launched in September 2005, aims to collect standardized genetic data in the form of DNA barcodes from the approximately 10,000 known species of world birds. Despite several hundred years of careful study, genetic surveys including those with DNA barcoding suggest there are hundreds of as yet undescribed avian species. ABBI aims to help speed discovery of new species, provide a practical tool for specimen identification, and open new avenues for scientific investigation. By depositing records in the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) and GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ, ABBI investigators are establishing an open-access electronic library that links DNA barcodes, reference specimens in collections, and associated collection data. The growing avian barcode library will be a valuable resource for conservation planners, ornithologists, ecologists, public health officials, and the interested public. DNA barcoding can be applied by interested persons to confirm identification regardless of age, sex, or plumage, including from individual feathers. This will aid banding and customs operations, for example, and help improve airline safety by identifying feathers and tissue remnants from birdstrikes. ABBI is a testing ground for DNA barcoding, providing benchmarks for the larger initiative to barcode all animal and plant life. ... [Information of the supplier]
Aves 3D is a National Science Foundation funded online database of three-dimensional digital surface models of the various bones that make up the skeleton of birds. Aves 3D aims to provide as wide of a representation of living and extinct bird species as possible, and we are adding new scans to the database on a weekly basis. Scans are generated through non-contact laser surface scanning at the College of the Holy Cross, and onsite at the various institutions whose collections are being scanned for the database, including the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University. ... [Information of the supplier]
The title "Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten e.V. (DDA) stands for the Federation of German Avifaunists. It is an umbrella organisation for all German avifaunists. Our website contains a wealth of information about the DDA and its monitoring programmes. Here you will find advice and information on bird registration and recording projects, some initial results and completed publications, details of competent local contacts or up to date avifaunistic information and schedules. ... [Information of the supplier]
This web site deals with feathering / plumage of birds, both indigenous to Central Europe and exotic. These are illustrated using colour photographs of specimens from the collections of the author and of other ornithologists. At present, the database comprises 654 illustrations for 281 species. ... [Information of the supplier, translated and modified]
Database of Migratory Species at Global scale (4344 species, 5500 literature references, Internet-Links, data on distribution and migration behaviour, 1174 GIS-maps, Threat Analysis) - Migratory species are an important dynamic component of biodiversity. The conservation and protection of these species requires international cooperation. However, the level of knowledge we have is not sufficient and information is immensely scattered. Today we can only estimate the number of migratory species within a vast range of 5000 and 10000. GROMS consolidates and summarises all available information and the current states of knowledge into a relational database. It supports a Geographic Information system (GIS) interface and permits various search options for novice users and for experts. The GROMS database is structured to provide an additional tool for fact finding and decision-making by the CMS bodies and related regional Agreements as well as the Convention on Biological Diversity. To this effect, the database is designed to supply information on migratory species, their distribution map, population and bibliography. The current multilingual database contains 4,344 migratory vertebrates species, with their threat and protection status (International Red List), protection status (after CMS and CITES) as well as migration types and more than 5,500 literature citations. ... [Information of the supplier]
Perhaps you have shared our frustration of sifting through your sound collection without ever finding the bird you recorded. Although an enormous amount of recordings are available on tape or even CDROM, they usually do not allow you to set up a sensible search strategy, in other words they are not true guides. This is odd, because of the great importance of songs in clinching ID's and in locating species in forests. The classification of birds in field guides is based on shared characteristics and usually leads to a reasonably fast convergence to a species, or genus, even in the tropics. For plants, elaborate decision trees exist that lead you to a certain species(group). For some areas such as Europe completely different decision trees even exist, allowing several independent lines of attack. The idea here is to do something similar for bird sounds. A set of simple characteristics has been chosen: the only instrument needed to determine them is a (stop)watch. More sophisticated and interesting ways of characterising and comparing the sounds exist, and we are planning to develop those here as time progresses, hopefully with your help. What these characteristics will do is limit the number of choices that you have, and more importantly bring together sounds that somehow sound similar, regardless of whether the species producing them are related or not. ... [Information of the supplier]
