Archive of wildlife sounds goes online

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ITHACA, N.Y., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Researchers in Ithaca, N.Y., say the world's largest library of wildlife sounds, including samples from 9,000 species, is digitized and fully available online.

Cornell University's Macaulay Library archive, the world's largest natural sound collection, is online after 12 years of work, the university reported Friday.

All archived analog recordings in the collection, dating back to 1929, can be heard for free online, the release said.

"In terms of speed and the breadth of material now accessible to anyone in the world, this is really revolutionary," collection curator Greg Budney said.

The archive of nearly 150,000 digital audio recordings exists as more than 10 terabytes of data with a total run time of 7,513 hours.

"Our audio collection is the largest and the oldest in the world," Macaulay Library Director Mike Webster said. "Now, it's also the most accessible."

Compiled by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the archive's emphasis is on birds, but the collection includes sounds of whales, elephants, frogs, primates and more.