Why We Love Birds...

My objective in building this site was to have a visually compelling ornithological reference site which is guided by Clements and IOC World Bird List. The visual navigation is structured primarily by Order(s) and for Passeriformes by sets of related families which are then subdivided by each family and bird species. I believe building a visually compelling avian site is key to inspiring the broadest audience for bird appreciation and conservation... a site that transcends avian knowledge level, language, and age. The goal is to have the images searchable visually as well as by text for Common, English and Latin bird family names.

I also work with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to assist in furthering their mission to advance the understanding of nature and to engage people of all ages in learning about birds and protecting the planet.

All photographs have been taken by me with the assistance of many talented birding friends and guides...all inspired by their love and curiosity for birds.

A special acknowledgement to Jared Merriman, Zoology major at Ball State University and avid birder, who is working tirelessly on categorizing, researching, inputting, and posting the thousands of images and facts supporting this site.

Staci Lott, Biology major at Wright State, continued Jared’s good work with identification/research and taxonomic categorization of birds with naming conventions in both English and scientific classifications in Latin by Order/Family/Genus/Species.

Brian Michael Good was a graduate student at Wright State University who continued with the great work of ID's and taxonomic categorization of birds.


I hope you will find this site inspiring. John McKean

Each image is legally protected by U.S. & International copyright laws and may NOT be used for reproduction in any manner without the explicit authorization of John McKean.