Macaulay Library - a scientific archive for research, education, and conservation, driven by you

The Macaulay Library is the world's premier scientific archive of natural history audio, video, and photographs. Although the history of the Macaulay Library is rooted in birds, its collections include amphibians, fish, and mammals, preserving records of the behavior and natural history of each species. Our mission is to promote the ability of others to collect and preserve these recordings, and actively promote their use for various purposes such as scientific research, education, conservation, and art.

The audio and video recordings in the archives can be used for research, education, and commercial purposes. If you want to contribute to the archive, you can submit your bird records and photos through the eBird/Macaulay Library media upload tool. Recorders with videos or non bird recordings can contact us to discuss possible archiving of their materials. New sound engineers can receive training at our annual recording seminar to learn how to become professional live sound engineers, or use our online resources for quick coaching.

About the Macaulay family

The Macaulay Library is named in honor of two avid birdwatchers, Linda and William (Bill) Macaulay, whose generous donations helped create the Macaulay Library's outstanding new home in the Sapsak Forest. This state-of-the-art facility includes customized studios, advanced fiber optic connections, spacious offices, and climate controlled archive storage.

Macaulay's contribution far exceeds financial support. Linda Macaulay has nearly 6000 bird song recordings of over 2600 species of birds, making her one of the most productive and talented contributors to the library's sound archives, and an excellent example of a dedicated citizen scientist. In many cases, Linda was the first person to record several species in the wild, and to this day, only she has recorded over 300 species. Through cooperation with the First Reserve Company, chaired by Bill, the Macaulay couple went to many hard to reach places that few tourists (even avid birdwatchers) had ever seen before. Wherever they went, they brought their recording equipment with them. In 2010, in recognition of Linda Macaulay's outstanding contributions to ornithology, the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology awarded her the prestigious Arthur Allen Prize.

The Macaulay Library thanks our foundation partners for their generous contributions to science and conservation. Your support is working!