A Celebration of Sound: Macaulay Library Reaches 2 Million Recordings

Over the last decade, you have helped the Cornell Lab’s Macaulay Library grow tremendously and recently we reached an amazing milestone. Thanks to more than 38,403 recordists around the world, the Macaulay Library now holds more than 2 million audio recordings. These assets have supplied invaluable information for research, documented extinct species in perpetuity, powered the generation of new birding tools, and provided endless learning materials and inspiration for listeners.

Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatcher Todirostrum chrysocrotaphum © Sandy Mico / ML140398901

The 2 millionth sound recording came in on October 14, from Marcelo Barbosa who recorded a Yellow-browed Tody-Flycatcher while birding in Santana do Araguaia in Pará, Brazil.

In honor of this monumental event, we hope you can join us for a virtual celebration of 2 million sound recordings archived in the Macaulay Library. We’ll pay homage to the contributions of the global sound recording community and explore the diverse applications of these recordings in research, conservation, and public engagement. Join us to learn about the pivotal role of sound in understanding and preserving our natural world, and be inspired to contribute your own sound recordings to this invaluable archive.

Sign up for the Webinar here.

Thank you for sharing your observations and recordings with the world.