A NNUAL
REPORT
SPARKING
ACTION
Most everyone who loves birds and the natural world remembers their spark moment—a moment
when an encounter with nature sets in motion a lifetime of passion and joy.
For me it was a spark day decades ago—a summertime ramble with my husband through coastal
impoundments at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, with binoculars and a eld guide
borrowed from a generous friend. ere were birds everywhere. Hundreds upon hundreds of terns,
gulls, sandpipers, and dozens I couldn’t name at the time, ying and feeding at close range, seemingly
inviting us into their realm.
Sadly, this experience of abundance that helped spark my love of the natural world is harder to come
by today. As the loss of 3 billion birds in North America shows, the Earth is losing its biodiversity—
losing both the richness and the abundance of life that signal the health of the planet.
e urgency and scale of the loss of biodiversity can seem daunting, but it’s also motivating. is year,
we’ve made technological leaps in the sound identication capabilities of Merlin and BirdNET and in
our understanding of bird migration through BirdCast Migration Dashboard. It all adds up to inspiring
people from all walks of life to come together to be a part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis.
Four key strategies guide our eorts to reverse the declining curve of birds and biodiversity and amplify
the impact of each individual who connects with nature through the Cornell Lab. Together, we’re:
• using the results of science to inform and guide actions that benet biodiversity.
• developing innovative technology so people can see, hear, and study the natural world in ways
that are just now becoming possible.
• fostering an interdisciplinary approach by bringing together scientists and other professionals
from diverse backgrounds to collaborate in myriad ways.
• engaging people from around the world to learn about, record, and take action to help birds and
biodiversity.
Central to all of this is you. Your support and participation make our work possible, strengthening the
available scientic knowledge, expanding our ability to work globally, and helping train the science
and conservation leaders of tomorrow.
e Cornell Lab has a world’s-eye view of birds—and birds are sounding the alarm. ank you for
helping us spark a global movement to protect the future of birds and biodiversity.
Linda Macaulay
Chair, Board of Directors
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Macaulay Library photos: Snowy Egret by Brad Imhoff; Snow Bunting (opposite page) by Ryan Sanderson
The Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative
works in 25 states helping leaders
prioritize lands for conservation, monitor
birds, manage and restore habitats, and
reach out to communities.
Scientists at BirdCast are advancing the eld of aeroecology, using weather
radar to answer broad questions about the nighttime journeys of billions of
birds. Now they’re homing in on the details—where, when, and how many birds
undertake their grand migrations in the spring and fall.
is spring, BirdCast released a free tool that allows anyone in the contiguous
U.S. to track the birds ying over their own county or state in near real-time,
and in detail: the number of birds, the direction they’re traveling, and their aver-
age speed and altitude. What’s more, eBird data helps predict which species are
most likely to be winging their way above your head on a given night.
Knowing the who, where, and when of migration allows scientists to answer
questions like: What are the best nights for turning o lights to prevent building
collisions? And how have migration patterns changed over time? By sharing
the tools to gather this information, and by working with partners around the
country in key migration corridors, we’re sparking action in all the places that
can help birds most.
Producing groundbreaking science and technologies are only part of the
equation for addressing the threats facing wildlife. It’s important to get Lab
resources —from eBird to BirdCast to Raven—into the hands of the people
who need them. We’re therefore working to share our science and tools with
researchers, conservationists, communities, and policy-makers to better inform
decision-making that benets the natural world.
BirdCast took to the airwaves during spring
migration 2022. A meteorologist with WTSP in
Tampa Bay, Florida, presented migration forecast
maps on the evening news.
Year
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
More than 1,400 land trusts across the U.S. protect
nearly 100,000 square miles of land—an area the
size of Wyoming. Since 2017, the Cornell Lab’s
Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative (LTBCI)
has awarded $734,000 to 58 projects that impact
more than a half-million acres across 25 states.
Five years into the project, the LTBCI connects with
even more of these local conservation allies through
work with regional conservation collaboratives. One
of these is Ag Allies, which brings together land
trusts, local preserves, landowners, and farmers in
central and southern Maine to preserve grassland
habitat for at-risk species across the region.
In 2020, the LTBCI awarded Ag Allies a grant that enabled
“a bare-bones operation to bloom” into an eective regional
eort, according to Laura Lecker, who manages the
program. “e Cornell Lab’s funds, expertise, and network
helped us connect with people who manage signicant
grasslands within the land-trust community.”
rough community walks, workshops, and incentive
programs, Ag Allies is helping landowners throughout the
state protect and increase habitat for birds, with tangible
results. For example, elds enrolled in the program in
2021 enabled the successful edging of thousands of birds,
including 1,450 Bobolinks and 590 Savannah Sparrows.
During our Spring
NatureFest, we were able
to share with [hundreds of]
guests that over 2,385,300
birds had crossed our
county the previous night
–mind-blowing and educa-
tional for our park visitors!
—Laura Cook, Bird Research
Coordinator, Warner Park Nature
Center, Nashville, Tennessee
As of 2022, landowners have enrolled more
than 1,400 acres in the Ag Allies program.
The group works with 14 land trusts and
more than 50 landowners across central and
southern Maine to improve bird habitat.
Bobolink by Brad Imhoff/Macaulay Library
Savannah Sparrow by Jennifer Brockway
SCIENCE TO ACTION
Yellow-breasted Chat by Tom Johnson
To bend the curve of declining biodiversity in a positive direction, the Cornell Lab
works at scales that impact entire ecosystems. Once such ecosystem is the alpine
forests of the western U.S., where the whitebark pine thrives at high elevations as
few other species can.
However, disease, forest pests, and changing vegetation are rapidly turning
these once lush forests of green into ghostly
graveyards of gray (see story, p. 28). is
grim transformation puts the landscape
in double jeopardy by also threatening the
Clark’s Nutcracker, the bird that serves as the
whitebark’s primary seed disperser.
ese intertwined and troubled species are the
subjects of a new lm from the Cornell Lab’s
Center for Conservation Media that aims to
catalyze action across the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem. Hope and Restoration: Saving
the Whitebark Pine depicts the dire reality of
whitebark pine decline while highlighting the
human commitment at the core of the plan
to protect and restore this iconic landscape. Produced in partnership with the
Ricketts Conservation Foundation, the lm is a key component of an awareness
campaign aimed at the local communities, government agencies, and nonprots
that are working together to make this immense project a reality.
If the Recovering America’s
Wildlife Act (RAWA) passes, it will
trigger a windfall for state wildlife
conservation—and require all 50
states to update their State Wildlife
Action Plans.
In July, state and federal wildlife
agency representatives attended a
webinar on using eBird Status and
Trends to help guide these updates.
A brand-new website now allows
state agencies to download ne-
grained information for any bird
species in their state, including
abundance maps that capture key
breeding, wintering, and migration
areas, plus population trend
summaries. is unprecedented
access to the very latest bird data
through Status and Trends will
allow agency leaders to make the
best possible conservation decisions
for the new funds that the act would
make available.
The Center for Conservation Media’s award-winning films
help conservation leaders and partners broaden the impact
and reach of landscape-scale work, such as the efforts by
the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Restoration Foundation and
American Forests to protect and restore the whitebark pine
forests of the western U.S. states.
To read more about this project and
watch the film, see “A BFF Recovery
Strategy,” page 28.
SCIENCE TO ACTION
Eighty percent of the millions of
shorebirds that migrate between the
Arctic and southern South America
each year rely on the wetlands in and
around Panama Bay. A diversity of
habitats—estuaries, mangroves, and
forests—also provide ood control
and food for the millions of people
who live near the coast. But rapid
coastal development is putting this
globally important
region at risk.
Ariadna Isabel
Araúz Ponce, an
urban planner
who earned a
Coastal Solutions
Fellowship in 2021,
is leading the eort to green the
infrastructure of this bustling coastal
city so it improves rather than harms
the health of the surrounding lands
and waters.
Her goal is to push the booming real
estate sector in the region to adopt
nature-based solutions going forward.
is includes preventing sprawl by
putting new projects in areas within
the urban core, and ensuring that
new construction includes permeable
surfaces, biolters, and other
techniques that protect the surrounding
natural areas from harmful runo.
To make this happen, Araúz Ponce
is building public- and private-sector
partnerships to
focus attention
on the nature
that surrounds
and weaves
through the
city, and to
instill a sense of
urgency about
the threats of poorly planned
development and rising sea levels that
could put the entire region at risk.
Her team also is working on creating
incentives that will demonstrate what
is possible when people have both
the information and the resources
to undertake nature-friendly urban
planning.
The value of
Hope and
Restoration
cannot be
overstated. The lm
lends the whitebark
pine restoration effort
an unprecedented and
comprehensive set of
stunning visuals of a
species that most Amer-
icans will never get to
witness in person.
—Brian Kittler,
VP of Forest Restoration,
American Forests
It’s hard for people to see
the danger, hard for them
to imagine what could
happen. For now, the risk
is invisible.
—Ariadna Isabel Araúz Ponce
Two dozen Coastal Solutions fellows are now spread
throughout Latin America engaging in projects that
directly benefit the birds that use the Pacific Americas
Flyway. Read about all 24 projects at:
www.solucionescosteras.org/en/fellows/.
Clark’s Nutcracker by Jeremiah Trimble/Macaulay Library
Data from eBird
Status and Trends
Panama Bay by Cristián Pérez
Ariadna Isabel Araúz Ponce at Centro Natural de Punta Culebra, Panama. Photo by Abdel Nader
How do you create a new city while minimizing impacts to the
communities already living in the area?
Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, is sinking into the sea. With a
population of over 10 million, Jakarta is a hub of economic and social
activity in the region. But the city is rapidly losing livable land due to
sea-level rise and subsidence. Indonesia’s central government is in the
rst stages of relocating the capital to East Kalimantan on Borneo,
in an area rich in both biological and cultural diversity—including
endangered Irrawaddy dolphins, orangutans, over 600 species of birds,
and dozens of human communities.
To understand the impacts, a team of biological and social scientists—
including Cornell Lab Postdoctoral Fellow Wendy Erb—was awarded
a grant from Cornell University’s Migrations Global Grand Challenge
to help local communities prepare for the migration. e team will
work collaboratively to set up acoustic monitoring across the region
to better understand both the ecological and the cultural eects of the
new urban center. is will include training for local residents so they
can eventually lead the monitoring and analysis eorts.
“is model of conservation recognizes people are important to any
conservation initiative—people are part of the ecosystem,” says Erb.
“By working with communities, giving them the tools of science,
which are the tools of policy, people are empowered to monitor places
that are culturally and environmentally important to them.”
Merlin Is Surging
Since 2014, Lab sta have worked continually to improve Merlin Bird
ID, with the goal of making birds and birding accessible to anyone,
anywhere. Merlin now covers more than 90% of the world’s bird species
across 223 countries and is available in over a dozen languages.
In summer 2021, Merlin took a quantum leap forward with the addition
of Sound ID, identifying singing birds in real time in the U.S. and
Canada. roughout spring and summer 2022, more than 3 million
people opened Merlin to identify birds, and the number of daily users
tripled compared to the previous year.
e latest version of Sound ID can identify the calls of 685 species,
including more than 250 European species. Sound ID for India, Mexico,
and the entire Neotropics is in the works. Your support, and the tireless
eorts of dozens of international partners, allows us to continue to oer
this indispensable app for free to birdwatchers around the world.
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
Since developing the world’s rst bird-sound-recording device 90 years ago, the Cornell Lab has
been committed to technology and innovation that support discovery. Today we are decoding
the sounds of the natural world—from apps that can identify bird songs, to recorders that can
reveal the soundscapes of an entire ecosystem. By combining our expertise in the biological
world with world-leading big-data analyses and machine learning, we are expanding the scope
and scale of what’s possible in conservation.
The latest devices
being installed in the
Sierra Nevada can give
real-time feedback to
researchers via text
messages and audio
clips. Previously the data
were only accessible via
a data card that had to
be retrieved from each
recorder.
anks to the work of scientists in the K. Lisa Yang
Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, the Sierra
Nevada region now hosts one of the largest passive
acoustic wildlife-monitoring arrays in the world.
What started as a project to monitor California
Spotted Owls and Barred Owls has blossomed into a
complex operation that demonstrates the possibilities
of passive acoustic monitoring when done at scale.
Nearly 2,000 autonomous recording units are now
spread throughout the Sierra Nevada, an area
encompassing 7,000 square miles. Using a custom
version of the citizen-science-powered sound-
analysis algorithm BirdNET, this array continuously
detects and identies virtually every bird species in
the region, plus a host of other kinds of animals.
e array records over a million hours of
soundscape every summer and has opened up a
world of research possibilities. Research associate
Connor Wood currently leads a project that uses
the array to compare sounds in the landscape
from before and after two of the largest res in
California history. Wood also is collaborating with
biologists from other elds to utilize the power of
the array and BirdNET beyond the avian world. Now
underway: a project to monitor gray wolves, which
naturally recolonized the area nearly a century
after they were wiped out, and another to detect
populations of the endangered Yosemite toad.
Images courtesy Connor Wood Eastern Meadowlark by Anonymous/Macaulay Library
Photo by Tim Laman
Our planet, our society, and all living species depend on biodiversity and
environmental health. But most regions and countries across the globe
lack the funds to sustain national biodiversity monitoring eorts. In the
past decade, the potential of citizen-science programs to paint a detailed
picture of ecosystem health has grown exponentially.
Courtney Davis, a former Rose Postdoctoral Fellow who became a
full-time research associate with the Cornell Lab in 2022, is working
with researchers at Cornell’s Institute for Computational Sustainability
to develop the Biodiversity Progress Index (BPI), a new tool that
uses cutting-edge big-data analysis to measure species richness at
unprecedented levels of detail. e BPI is made possible in part by
millions of citizen-science observations in eBird.
e BPI shows community completeness—a measure of how many
species are actually present given how many species should be there—
using an easily understood, 1–100 scale. Community completeness is
the most accurate metric for assessing how bird diversity is aected
by environmental restoration and conservation eorts, providing clear
feedback and direction for planners and policy-makers
to steer societies toward a healthier world.
Since 2020, more than 80 students have enhanced their learning
experience and sharpened valuable skills through Experiential
Learning Grants. ese grants give Cornell undergraduates the
opportunity to receive hands-on training and mentorship from
professionals working in diverse elds, elevating their ability to
make a dierence for birds and the natural world.
Climate change is altering ocean temperatures and habitat, with
consequences for forage sh, such as herring, and the birds that
feed on them. Grace Guo (’25) spent much of last year reviewing
hundreds of hours of lm of Common and Roseate Terns nesting
at the Shoals Marine Lab in New Hampshire as they brought sh to
their nestlings. Under the guidance of postdoctoral fellow Gemma
Clucas, Guo recorded prey species, feeding rates, and other facets
of tern behavior. is summer she learned how to separate and
analyze DNA from fecal samples to help develop a detailed picture
of how these birds’ diets are changing with warming waters. is
summer she built on that experience by traveling to Shoals Marine
Lab to collect more samples for this multi-year project.
rough the Bartels Science Illustration Residency, the
Cornell Lab has welcomed more than 30 early-career
professional artists over the past two decades. Each
illustrator has an opportunity to expand their skills and
gain valuable experience while working on dedicated
projects that create impactful media for Lab programs,
research, and publications.
A suite of courses known as Ars Aviaria embeds artistic
training into classes where students explore science
and art in tandem. Bartels alumna and Cornell Lab
illustrator Jillian Ditner designed and teaches the agship
undergraduate course, e Art and Science of Birds.
Students work with current Bartels Illustrators, who in
turn gain valuable teaching experience as instructors.
INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE
I loved learning all of
these new techniques, but
what really excited me
was the application of the
knowledge.... Results of
this project will become
a part of reports that
sheries managers will use
to help maintain forage sh
populations as oceans warm.
—Grace Guo, ‘25
Anyone who has
ever loved a eld
guide knows that
without visual
representations of
our natural world,
our understanding
would suffer.
—John Fitzpatrick, Director
Emeritus, Cornell Lab of
Ornithology.
We bring together scientists with a diversity of per-
spectives to practice alongside artists, data scientists,
engineers, and archivists. Using this interdisciplinary,
tech-forward approach we train and equip the next gen-
eration of science leaders.
Performance evaluation of all coffee
farms in Costa Rica using the BPI
metric of community completeness.
Photo by Tim Briggs/NH Sea Grant
Photo by Tim Briggs/NH Sea Grant
Photo by Theresa Rizza
Rufous-capped Warbler by Isaias Morataya/Macaulay Library
A sampling of students’ nal projects for the
undergraduate course The Art and Science of Birds.
Ruppell’s Griffon by Subramanya C K/Macaulay Library
Your observations become part of a global database that drives
science and conservation: By combining your observations with high-
resolution satellite imagery and using the power of statistical modeling
and machine learning, we build state-of-the-art visualizations of bird
abundance and distribution that we call eBird Status and Trends. e
extraordinary results improve our understanding of bird biology and
migration ecology, and guide conservation actions.
Your observations help Merlin improve its IDs:
Photos and audio clips uploaded to the Macaulay
Library via an eBird submission improve the
Merlin identication algorithms. Every new piece
of media—from a professional-quality photo
to a smartphone recording—adds to Merlin’s
understanding of the variations in species
appearance and vocalizations and allows Merlin to
identify birds with even greater accuracy.
Your observations lead to answers about the
natural world: e vast trove of photos and
recordings collected by sound recordists and
photographers has made it possible for researchers to
make new and sometimes surprising discoveries about
bird biology. Until last year, the diet of the Tiny Hawk—
a petite, hard-to-nd raptor in Central and South
America—remained poorly understood. Ornithologists
pored over hundreds of photos in the Macaulay Library
and found that Tiny Hawks consume a wide range
of small bird species, not just hummingbirds as was
previously thought.
e Macaulay Library’s sound recordings have also proved
instrumental to new scientic discoveries. It was long suspected
that the Rufous Antpitta, a resident of Andean forests, was more
than one species. Despite visual similarities, observers noted
that antpittas in dierent mountain ranges sounded dierent.
Ornithologists analyzed song recordings in the Macaulay Library
to conrm that what was once known as the Rufous Antpitta is
actually 16 dierent species!
Your observations enhance useful resources like Birds of the World:
Media submitted by eBird users help the world’s most comprehensive
bird information resource fulll its mission: to tell every bird’s story. We
are continually improving Birds of the World by adding beautiful photos
and pristine recordings from the Macaulay Library, and improving the
range maps for the 10,824 species accounts, so that researchers and
students around the world have the latest and best information for any
species in the world.
Your observations contribute to groundbreaking research:
Hundreds of scientic studies that inform our understanding of
everything from bird migration to endangered species conservation
have used eBird data. Recently, researchers used eBird data to conrm
important locations for endangered vultures in Ethiopia, and discovered
that only one-fth of vulture priority areas are currently protected—
ndings that can help inform decisions to protect more land.
Every time you go outside and see or hear a bird
is a moment of wonder and discovery. But those
moments mean even more thanks to the power
of eBird, Merlin, and the Macaulay Library. Every
bird observation, photograph, or sound recording
submitted through eBird enhances the scientic
value and global reach of these free resources,
used by millions of recreational birdwatchers and
researchers alike.
Your observations make Merlin smarter:
Along with the app’s groundbreaking Sound ID
and Photo ID features, Merlin also synthesizes
local eBird observations to learn which
species you are most likely to encounter. With
identication help for over 90% of the world’s
birds, translated into over a dozen languages,
Merlin continues to make it easier to identify
and connect with birds wherever you are.
PEOPLE POWER
Tiny Hawk by Jean Bonilla/Macaulay Library
Photo by Charlein Gracia
For more than 100 years the Cornell Lab
has been committed to the idea of feeding
the innate fascination and connection that
people have with birds. Your support is
key to sustaining our free online resources,
which help some 35 million deepen that
connection.
We’ve seen how one bird, at one moment
on a single day in a single place, can help
spark a person’s connection with nature.
With a world of free resources and friendly
expertise, we help nurture a love of birds
that spreads throughout the world, helping
countless individuals become voices in
their communities advocating for science,
nature, and conservation.
is past year, 24 million people used our
free All About Birds website, and bird
lovers ticked o more than 6 million hours
of bird observations via Bird Cams. Merlin
now has over 1.1 million active users, and
Birds of the World, the
most comprehensive
resource for bird
information ever
created, reaches 600
academic and scientic
institutions. It all adds up to more
people having the chance to fall in
love with birds and to understand the
value of a deep connection with the
natural world.
Bird Cams for Science
Last year, Bird Cams were viewed 5 million times as people
around the world tuned in for intimate views of birds in
nests and at feeders. Starting in 2018 and running through
2021, Bird Cams was funded by the National Science
Foundation to enable an even deeper experience for cam
watchers, creating a virtual space called Bird Cams Lab that
hosted six co-created scientic investigations.
Bird Cams Lab reached more than 16,000 people, with
approximately 4,000 participants collaborating in one or
more phases of a scientic investigation using Bird Cams
livestreamed and recorded footage—from developing
research questions, to data collection and analyses, to
publication online. Results showed that these 4,000
participants ended the project with increased bird
knowledge, increased understanding of the scientic
process, and greater condence in their own ability to
contribute to scientic research. ese results point to
future opportunities to work with the millions-strong Bird
Cams audience to contribute to scientic research in new
ways, and to help cam viewers develop observation and
communication skills.
In addition to the millions of people who turn to our programs
and online resources, Celebrate Urban Birds works directly with
communities throughout the Western Hemisphere. Last year the Tom
Cade Memorial Fund awarded 32 mini-grants to local conservation
and education organizations in 15 countries and 3 U.S. states, helping
14,500 people enhance their appreciation of and investment in the
natural world.
e Rio Grande Valley is a destination for birders from across the U.S.,
yet many of the residents living in the area do not know about the
unique character of the region as a migration route for birds. Mini-
grant awardee Proyecto Juan Diego, a community-based organization
in Brownsville, Texas, worked with local youth to make art inspired by
their local avian life, and with senior citizens to reect on memories
and experiences with birds. Both groups also engaged in group “bird-
noticing” and learning to identify the birds around them.
PEOPLE POWER
Most people who birdwatch
in this area are from out of
town. This project seeks
to educate...the youth and
senior citizens about the
birds in their own commu-
nities. The arts allow for
both groups to express the
Mexican culture through
the visual arts and the
Spanish language.
What does it take to rally millions of people around birds and
nature? One way is to help people learn about the natural
world. Our globe-spanning, people-centered programs help
grow the ranks of bird lovers and people who care about
protecting the natural world. Tens of millions of people have
engaged with the Lab’s programs, projects, and people, and
the ranks are growing.
Proyecto Juan Diego/Celebrate Urban BirdsCourtesy of Celebrate Urban Birds
Margaret Castillo/Great Backyard Bird Count
Blue Grosbeak by Ryan Sanderson/Macaulay Library
Rufous Hummingbird by Charles Gates/Macaulay Library
Great Backyard Bird Count: e GBBC
is a globally accessible entry point for
people around the world to deepen their
involvement with birds and the Cornell Lab.
Some 386,000 people from 192 countries
participated in the 2022 GBBC in February.
NestWatch: NestWatch participants
monitored more than 31,000 nests for
science in 2021. e NestWatch team also
digitized tens of thousands of historic nest
records, which are being added to its open-
access database. is long-running dataset,
driven by thousands of volunteers, enables
the research community to ask new and
meaningful questions about nesting birds.
FeederWatch: Over 15,000 people in the U.S.
counted nearly 9.5 million birds during the
2021–2022 FeederWatch season, including,
for the rst time, people without bird feeders.
e new protocol will enable researchers
to better assess how feeders impact bird
communities on a continental scale.
Bird Academy: Bird Academy’s online
courses have enabled hundreds of thousands
of people to plug into and learn from the
Lab’s deep and broad expertise. is spring
Bird Academy released its rst Spanish-
language oering, Fundamentos de eBird
(eBird Essentials), a free course that will
be used to support outreach and research
eorts across Latin America.
AUTUMN 2022 • LIVING BIRD 73
Belted Kingsher by k bartels/Macaulay Library
THANK YOU, SPONSORS!
Through these partnerships we reached out to new audiences to improve the understanding
and protection of birds in backyards and around the world.
The Cornell Lab thanks these sponsors for their support in 2022.
Acopian BirdSavers
Aramark
Better Bird
Celestron
LOWA
Pennington Wild Bird Feed
Perky-Pet
Princeton University Press
Swarovski Optik
Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc.
Wild Birds Unlimited
at Sapsucker Woods
Wild Delight
Viking
ZEISS
3-D Pet Products
For information about partnership opportunities, contact Justin Cleveland,
manager of corporate partnerships, at [email protected].
FINANCIAL REPORT
Program $24,834,059
Revenue
$ in Millions
Membership & Gifts $30,831,043
Development $5,538,074
Expense
Grants & Contracts $3,943,419
Administration and Infrastructure $2,770,012
Total Expenditures $37,463,145
Program Income $4,899,761
University Administrative
Support Costs $4,321,000
Invested Funds Income $3,708,809
Other $406,494
Total Revenue $43,789,526
ank you for supporting the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology. In scal year 2022,
thousands of members and donors
provided more than 70% of our annual
revenue, a total of $30.8 million that
expands our capacity to promote glob
-
al conservation through research, ed-
ucation, and citizen science. As it was
for many people and organizations,
scal year 2022 was again unusual for
the Lab: we saw an increase in chari
-
table giving, combined with a minimal
increase in expenses (in part driven
by a tight labor market and continued
reduction in travel due to the pan
-
demic). As a result, the Lab ended
the year with an uncommon surplus
of funds. As we emerge from the
Covid-19 pandemic, this surplus will
allow us to grow in strategic ways as
quickly as possible in scal year 2023
and beyond, particularly given that the
threats facing birds and biodiversity
are immediate and signicant. ank
you for making it possible for us to
invest in our vital research, education,
and conservation eorts.
FY22 Expenditures
Operating Revenue
FY22 Revenue
14.8%
66.3%
7.4%
11.2%
9.0%
70.4%
0.9%
11.5%
8.5%
FY2013
10
20
30
40
FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022
If you have questions, comments, or requests for the Cornell Lab’s membership and development team, please contact
Bramble Klipple at 607-254-1105, [email protected], or Mary Guthrie at 607-254-2157, [email protected].
LEAVE A
LEGACY
FOR BIRDS
By including the Cornell Lab in your will, trust, or beneciary designation,
you can create a personal legacy that will have a lasting impact for birds,
discovery, and conservation. We would be happy to help you make a plan
that will benet you, your family, and ultimately, the birds.
R- L G V
We are deeply grateful to our more
than 150,000 supporters at every
level, all of whom make it possible
for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
to advance the understanding of
nature and engage people of all ages
in learning about birds
and protecting the
planet. We’re also
pleased to include a
list of Sapsucker
Woods Society
members and
honor and memorial
tributes online at
birds.cornell.edu/donors.
