Our 2013 List of Holiday Gift Ideas Will Help You and Help the Birds

This article is from 2013, but you can check out the latest gifts here.

From new birdsong collections to smartphone apps, online learning, and a kit for beginning birders, here are 10 holiday gift suggestions for the bird and nature lover in your life. Your purchases “pay it forward” by supporting the Cornell Lab’s bird conservation efforts.

Bird Apps

Find more birds with BirdsEye, upload sightings from the field with BirdLog, or discover 24 North American birds in four games for kids with My Bird World. Looking for an app to help ID birds by their sounds? See our recent review on bird song apps, including apps that use sounds from the Macaulay Library. ($3.99–$19.99)

The Birds of North America Online

This continually updated, definitive life-history reference is authored by experts on more than 700 bird species, accompanied by images, sounds, and some video. An online publication of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in partnership with the American Ornithologists’ Union. ($5 stocking stuffer for a 30-day subscription or $42 for an entire year)

The Warbler Guide with Song and Call Companion

The Warbler Guide, by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle, is an essential, innovative new field guide that gives you more details about warblers than ever before (read our full book review). The audio companion from Macaulay Library contains over 1,000 files—every song, chip, and flight call covered in the book—presented in the same order as in the guide, and ready for loading into a computer, smartphone, or mp3 player of your choice. ($29.95 for the book; $5.99 for the audio companion)

Singing Plush Birds

The plush birds in this popular Wild Republic series make great collectibles for children and adults. Each bird contains authentic sounds from the Cornell Lab’s Macaulay Library and is created with colorful anatomical details. ($8.99)

Birds & Beans Coffee

A tasteful gift that supports organic shade-grown coffee farms that give shelter and sustenance to more than 60 species of migratory birds. A portion of the proceeds supports Cornell Lab conservation efforts. From now until the middle of December, their Good Coffee Special will save you over $45 on 12 bags; great gifts for your coffee loving friends!  ($11.70-$115)

Cornell Guide to Bird Sounds: Essential Set for North America

Great for beginners. This set, featuring over 1,300 sound tracks, includes the most common sounds for 727 species available as downloadable MP3 files ($12.99) or on a pre-loaded USB flash drive. ($24.99). For the avid audiophile, consider the Master Set with nearly 5000 sound tracks (see below).

The Bird Watching Answer Book

A great stocking stuffer! Drawing from the tens of thousands of inquiries that pour into the Cornell Lab each year, author and bird expert Laura Erickson has compiled answers to more than 200 common and not-so-common bird questions. ($14.95)

Cornell Lab Membership

Lab membership supports efforts to improve the understanding and protection of birds around the world. The quarterly Living Bird magazine is included with every gift membership. Thinking of buying one of the great pairs of binoculars we reviewed in our big 2013 Binocular Review? Your Lab membership gives you 10% off at the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Sapsucker Woods, which means that the discount you get on a new pair could pay for your year’s Lab membership! ($39)

Cornell Guide to Bird Sounds: Master Set for North America

The most comprehensive guide available, featuring nearly 5,000 sound tracks for 735 North American bird species. Download includes MP3 sound files and photographs ($49.99), or receive all files on a pre-loaded USB flash drive. ($64.99)

Cornell Lab Beginner Bird-Watching Kit

This kit, available from Optics Planet, includes introductory binoculars recommended by Cornell Lab of Ornithology staff, six months free access to a Cornell online bird ID course, and other great accessories. ($199)

For more gift ideas, visit our holiday shopping page website.