View from Sapsucker Woods: Welcome. Wow. What Next?

From the Autumn 2024 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now.

Every year the Cornell Lab of Ornithology headquarters welcomes thousands of people from around the world who have been inspired to love birds through digital experiences like the Merlin Bird ID smartphone app and Bird Academy online learning portal. They make a pilgrimage to Ithaca to see where those things are created. It’s been a huge joy to see their excitement when they walk through the doors of our refurbished Visitor Center. Since the reopening, I’ve bumped into visitors from six continents, all bubbling with enthusiasm to share their spark stories. The new exhibits are a celebration of the deep connection between birds and people.

We asked the design team to deliver a “Welcome, Wow, and What Next?” experience. Stepping inside the new Visitor Center, the first thing that hits you is a wall of media with awe-inspiring footage of birds, and a huge, spinning data globe showing a live stream of what eBirders are seeing at that very moment. The world is full of birdwatchers, and it makes you feel part of something much bigger. Welcome to a people-powered movement for nature.

The centerpiece is the Adelson Family Bird Discovery Lab, a multi-sensory immersion into the sights and sounds of nature. It’s a dazzling kaleidoscope of images, videos, and 3D models, all interwoven with stunning specimens from the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. The thrill is infectious when you start to play with the interactive sound table, a varied mix of amazing natural sounds from bearded seals and snowy tree crickets to Great Potoos and Gang-gang Cockatoos—all courtesy of the Macaulay Library and K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics.

Just as interesting as the new exhibits is what we were urged to retain. “Don’t alter the murals!” we were told. “Or the view of the pond!” It’s a reminder of the importance of people’s spiritual connection with nature. As a science-based organization, we put a lot of effort into data quality and robust statistical models, and we know the impact of getting the right information into the hands of decision-makers. But sometimes it’s a few quiet moments watching an Osprey fishing, or contemplating a beautiful piece of art, that refills the tank and kindles hope.

The new Visitor Center also showcases some bird-friendly technologies now available to reduce building collisions. Set in the middle of the woods with huge windows overlooking the pond, our Visitor Center has had too many collisions in the past. Now bird collisions are significantly reduced with the new window treatments. It’s a tangible example of the impact of individual decisions, and it’s been fantastic to see how it moves people to want to do something themselves—a powerful “What Next?”

The refurbished Visitor Center is also a big “Thank You” to all the people who have made the Cornell Lab what it is today. From the local Ithaca communities and school groups who consider Sapsucker Woods to be their backyard, to the millions of people who drive our participatory science programs like eBird, to the generations of Cornell students who fill the Cornell Lab with energy and ideas, and especially to our members and supporters who have so generously made it all possible—it’s often humbling to feel that affection for the Cornell Lab. This is a chance for us to give something back.