We’ve reviewed the finest chook photographs from final 12 months and chosen our favourite chook sounds as properly—now it’s time to try among the finest video footage. We scoured the 33,000+ recordings uploaded to the Macaulay Library in 2024. We searched all seven continents, and in the long run we selected 21 favorites—view a compilation of them above.
How did we select our favorites? We regarded for gorgeous magnificence, intriguing conduct, and skillful cinematography. A few of our decisions had been acquainted, beloved species like a singing Scarlet Tanager that’s so crimson it’s virtually glowing, or a Tune Sparrow that completely matches its cattail marsh because it belts out its music.
Transferring Portraits
Some video clips had been beautiful portraits through which a delicate motion provides an additional spark of life—like the extreme stare of a Burrowing Owl amongst dry grasses in Chile. It’s so nonetheless you could see its chest shifting because it breathes, then abruptly swivels its head 180°. We additionally get a superb russet-and-yellow European Bee-eater dwelling as much as its identify, with an enormous bumblebee in its invoice.
A closeup of one of many world’s most stunning birds, a Resplendent Quetzal, affords a protracted, breathtaking take a look at its shimmering green-gold plumage because it slowly tilts its head. Quetzals, like their trogon family members, are sit-and-wait predators. As soon as it spots an insect meal, this immobile chook will explode right into a flurry of wings in a pinpoint flight towards its prey.
Intriguing Conduct
You possibly can depend on birds to repeatedly shock, delight, and astound. In a riveting second with a household of Torrent Geese in Ecuador—we liked the way in which the ducklings confidently bounce alongside, and the way the chestnut-colored feminine vegetation her ft on a boulder, mid-stream, and jumps down one of many drops.
To not be outdone, a Black-throated Huet-huet in Chile frenetically scratches for meals on the bottom, but in some way holds its head completely nonetheless the entire time, to keep up give attention to any prey it uncovers.
We additionally liked the fragile approach a good Crimson Rosella in Australia nibbled at a fern frond. A Purple-billed Oxpecker in South Africa regarded like a rock climber because it traversed the face of an obliging gazelle, in search of bugs. And don’t miss the groovy stroll of a Solitary Snipe in South Korea, including an additional dimension past what a nonetheless picture captures.
Expert Videography
Some clips wowed us with their “diploma of problem.” The swish, slow-motion fluttering of some Wilson’s Storm-Petrels belies how arduous it’s to seize these tiny, incessantly shifting birds from the deck of a ship rolling in Antarctic waters. A full-frame view of two Japanese Kingbird nestlings is beautiful even earlier than their mother or father arrives with a meal of dragonfly—a slow-motion story instructed in only a dozen seconds. We additionally admired the framing and pleasant element of a feminine Allen’s Hummingbird returning to her nest in California and tucking a tiny little bit of fuzz into the liner.
Watch the Authentic Movies
Right here’s the complete record of video clips featured within the compilation above. To skip to a species, scroll via the video to get to the time stamp. Click on on the hyperlinks on this desk to view the unique, full-length movies archived within the Macaulay Library.
| Time Stamp | Species (hyperlink to full video) | Recordist | Nation | What We Liked |
| 0:08 | Burrowing Owl | Ariel Cabrera Foix | Chile | The stillness and depth of the owl’s gaze. |
| 0:20 | Scarlet Tanager | Jeff Hapeman | Pennsylvania | The extreme glowing crimson of this singing chook’s spectacular plumage. |
| 0:28 | Ruddy Turnstone | Anna Zizak | Florida | The good mild and the high quality element because the turnstone seems for morsels of meals. |
| 0:37 | European Bee-eater | Josep del Hoyo | Spain | This chook resides as much as its identify, holding an enormous bumblebee in its invoice whereas softly calling. |
| 0:45 | Very good Fairywren | Robert Humphries | Australia | The muted grey and blue fantastic thing about this feminine/immature fairywren. |
| 0:54 | Japanese Kingbirds | Dan O’Brien | Massachusetts | Beautiful slow-motion as two hopeful fledglings await a dragonfly meal. |
| 1:07 | Crimson Rosella | Stephanie Owen | Australia | The precision of a parrot nibbling at a tiny fern frond with its massive invoice. |
| 1:13 | Siberian Rubythroat | Hervé Jacob | China | The melodious music and the good patch of coloration on the throat. |
| 1:20 | Purple-billed Oxpecker | Tom Heijnen | South Africa | The convenience of the oxpecker because it explores the gazelle, and the gazelle’s persistence. |
| 1:29 | Veracruz Wren | Alberto Lobato | Mexico | The wren’s bubbly music and the way in which it listens and responds to a close-by wren. |
| 1:38 | Black Heron | Niall D. Perrins | South Africa | This heron is legendary for its looking technique, shading the water by making an umbrella of its wings. |
| 1:46 | Torrent Duck | Violet Wu | Ecuador | The talent and confidence of those adults and ducklings—notably the chestnut-colored feminine planting each ft on a midstream boulder and leaping down the speedy. |
| 2:00 | Wilson’s Storm-Petrel | Steve B. | Coronation Island, Antarctic Peninsula | The grace of those tiny ocean wanderers fluttering inches above the Antarctic waters. |
| 2:06 | Solitary Snipe | Jina Yi | South Korea | That rhythm! |
| 2:12 | Ocellated Crake | Thelma Gátuzzô | Brazil | The possibility to understand the intricate colours and patterns of this tiny, secretive chook because it hunts ants. |
| 2:21 | Black-throated Huet-huet | Tamara Catalán Bermudez | Chile | We are able to’t get sufficient of the way in which this chook frenetically scratches on the earth whereas preserving its eye completely regular and in the identical place. |
| 2:28 | Golden-browed Chlorophonia | Soumyadeep Chatterjee | Costa Rica | The good inexperienced and gold of this tropical species because it nibbles a berry. |
| 2:36 | Tune Sparrow | Andrew Thomas | Washington | A fantastically composed body as considered one of North America’s most widespread songbirds sings its acquainted music. |
| 2:43 | Resplendent Quetzal | Tyler Wenzel | Costa Rica | The best way this wonderful chook shimmers inexperienced and bronzy gold because it slowly, slowly scans the foliage in search of a meal. |
| 2:57 | Eurasian Collared-Dove | Ramesh Desai | India | The peaceable cooing, and the way in which the dove makes the sound with its invoice closed, solely taking intermittent breaths like a musician enjoying a wind instrument. |
| 3:07 | Allen’s Hummingbird | Melani King | California | The attractive little nest, the precision of the hummingbird, and the wisp of plant materials it tucks into place because it settles in. |
Thank You
The Macaulay Library’s assortment of pure historical past media from around the globe wouldn’t be potential with out the dedication, ardour, and generosity of birders, photographers, and recordists around the globe. Your work not solely paperwork the fantastic thing about birds and wildlife, it additionally serves as a useful useful resource for scientists, educators, and nature lovers around the globe.
This “Better of Macaulay Library” assortment is a celebration of your dedication to capturing the magic of the pure world and sharing it with others. From all of us on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, thanks for serving to share the world of birds and wildlife, one add at a time.
