Last Call

The world has lost, or is on the brink of losing, many remarkable bird species. Meanwhile, many once-numerous bird populations are rapidly shrinking. In North America alone, research led by Cornell scientists has shown that the continent’s total number of birds has declined by an estimated 2.9 billion adults over just a few decades, reflecting widespread pressures such as habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and invasive species.

Understanding and reversing these bird declines requires both a historical perspective and modern conservation tools. At Cornell, resources such as the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates, and historical scientific works preserved in Cornell University Library Special Collections help scientists document how bird populations have changed through time. Specimens, photographs, historical illustrations, sound recordings, and field notes each provide an irreplaceable record of species that have declined or even disappeared entirely, while new technologies allow researchers to track birds, analyze their genomes, and estimate changes in their populations. In concert with the vast citizen science data contributed to platforms like eBird, these cutting-edge resources help scientists better understand which birds are declining and how conservation efforts can help them recover.

The most important message is simple: only by studying the past and monitoring the present do we gain the insights needed to protect the birds of the future.

From fall of 2025 through spring 2027 Cornell University Library (CUL) is hosting a series of exhibits titled From the Brink: Contributions to a Sustainable Future from across Cornell. The exhibit series showcases collections, research, and artistic expression from across Cornell, stimulating conversations about the threat of environmental and cultural loss and its implications, while also illuminating ways of addressing these issues of critical, global importance with insights into positive developments and constructive steps toward a healthier, more sustainable future for our planet and our communities.

Consisting of eight exhibits in five unit libraries, the From the Brink series has been created by CUL staff in these units working in collaboration with other Cornell institutions, departments, faculty, students and artists.

Last Call: Bird Loss and the Threat of Extinction is the result of a collaboration between the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates and Mann Library. It is made possible by the support of the Elizabeth E. (Betty) Rowley Fund for Mann Library.