February 15, 2008 (Vol. 28, No. 4)
URL:
http://www.animalbehaviorarchive.org/loginPublic.do
Rating:
Strong Points: Large collection of recordings
Weak Points: A very niche site
Summary:
Hosted by the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Animal Behavior Archive is a site that covers more than just birds. Before I get started, though, the title of this one bothers me. What is a behavioral archive? How can one archive a behavior? The answer, of course, is that one can’t. One can only listen to animal sounds (over 160,000 at the site) or watch animals on video (over 3000) to witness some representation of animal behavior. With over 80 years of records and coverage of an amazing two thirds of the world’s bird species, the content is nothing to sneeze at. Come to think of it, isn’t sneezing an animal behavior? I searched the database, but turned up nary a recording. OK, that’s silly and a cheap shot. In conclusion I’ll say that if you’re looking for animal sounds, this is an easy site to recommend.