Resources

Records and Lists

• eBird lets you enter all your checklists while using your data in an international database of bird populations

• Cayuga Lake Basin Checklist (PDF) and
  Ithaca Christmas Bird Count Checklist (PDF)

• Cayuga Lake Basin First Records and Arrival Information, and Shorebirds In The Cayuga Lake Basin

• aba.org (FKA Birdingonthe.net) maintains a catalog of local and regional mailing lists from around the country and provides searchable archives of recent postings; use the "List" dropdown for the State of New York to find locally-relevant lists such as Cayugabirds-L

Links of Local Interest

• Breeding Bird Atlas - we're entering the final year of the 5-year-long BBA III project (2020-2024) - please help out!

• Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail - ongoing inventory of the osprey nests and platforms easily observable from public roads in the Cayuga Lake area; see also Candace Cornell's blog On Osprey Time.

• Cayuga Trails Club (CTC) - maintains more than 75 miles of trails through prime bird habitats of all sorts, mainly on the Finger Lakes Trail; the CTC is affiliated with the Finger Lakes Trail Conference which is the coordinating group for the Finger Lakes Trails System

• Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology - provides a wealth of information about birds, an extensive collection of bird sounds and videos, educational opportunities and bird monitoring opportunities

• Cornell Botanic Gardens "Explore" page - provides an interactive map find and explore many of Cornell's outdoor treasures

• Finger Lakes Land Trust - owns and maintains a number of nature preserves that provide some of our best bird habitats

• Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge - part of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex; it is the scene of the annual Montezuma Muckrace

• New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA): 

  • provides news of rare sightings and links to bird clubs statewide

  • publishes the journal The Kingbird

  • home of the New York State Avian Records Committee (NYSARC)

  • organized the Atlas 2000 New York State Breeding Bird Atlas project

• Cornell Cooperative Extension has published a very helpful document on Hayfield Management and Grassland Bird Conservation

Other Birding Clubs

• Birding Club at Cornell

• Eaton Birding Society

• Chemung Valley Audubon Society

• Onondaga Audubon Society

• Rochester Birding Association

Mailing Lists and Hotlines

• New York Birding Discord Server: forums for rare bird reporting and bird discussion, broken down by region. The channels for our area are #cayuga-lake-basin-rba and #cayuga-lake-basin-chat

  • See instructions at: https://tinyurl.com/NYS-RBA-Discord

  • Note: this will replace the Cayuga-RBA GroupMe system, which will be decomissioned soon.

• Cayugabirds-L (web view), hosted by Cornell University, generates daily sightings of birds in the Finger Lakes region (with a focus on the Cayuga Lake Basin), as well as lively discussions on bird behavior, identification, habitat, and more. Cayugabirds-L is not directly affiliated with the Cayuga Bird Club.  For more information contact list owner Chris Tessaglia-Hymes. 

  • Cayugabirds-L – Archives

  • Cayugabirds-L – Welcome and Basics

  • Cayugabirds-L – Rules and Information

  • Cayugabirds-L – Subscribe, Configuration and Leave

• NYSBirds-L (web view), also hosted by Cornell, has the same function as Cayugabirds-L but covers the entire state of New York. Chris Tessaglia-Hymes also serves as list owner of NYSBirds-L. 

• Geneseebirds-L and Oneidabirds-L serve nearby regions that partially overlap the Cayuga Lake area.

• Rare Bird Alert Birdbox. (315) 637-0318 is the official bird sightings hotline of Onondaga Audubon. Transcripts for Cayugabirds and Geneseebirds are posted.

Archives

• The David Cup was an informal competition to see who can see the most birds in the area in the calendar year.

• Kevin McGowan chronicles some of the area's rarer sightings and tougher IDs on his Bad Photos of Good Birds page.

• Blog of articles from 2012-2015.