Hundreds of thousands have visited the incredible collection of Asian bird photographs held in the Oriental Bird Images website in recent years and many have contributed their own photos.

The OBI collection was built up over many years through the generosity of thousands of bird photographers throughout the region and maintained by a core team of unpaid but passionate enthusiasts.

However, the OBI team is ready to retire and it is clear to OBC Council that we are no longer able to maintain the database in its current form and the OBI website will soon have to close.

The good news is that after a search for a suitable solution, OBC is partnering with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. With this partnership, the OBI collection will persist indefinitely as a separate and valuable image database, but will be hosted by and become integrated with the Macaulay Library and eBird at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

If you contributed photos to OBI, we need your help. We need permission to transfer your photographs to the Macaulay Library or they will be lost from the OBI collection. If you have already given your permission, thank you very much, your assistance is hugely appreciated. If not, there is a very simple opt-in process to give your permission for the transfer.

Simply visit https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/oriental-bird-images/

Once there, you will be asked to sign-in with your Cornell Lab account if you already have one, or if not to create one, and then asked to give your consent to the transfer of your images.

You will also need your OBI ID number.

If you don't remember your OBI ID, please visit your OBI profile and select the last numbers in the URL.

For example the OBI ID of this profile is 102:

http://orientalbirdimages.org/photographers.php?action=birder&Birder_ID=102

If you still need help, please contact imagemaster@orientalbirdimages.org for assistance.

Please note the opt-in period ends on 16th April 2021.

After this date it will not be possible to accept any further transfers. Many thanks to the owners of more than 85% of the collection who have already agreed to the transfer. If you are one of the 15% minority ACT NOW or your images will disappear.

Ideally we would like to transfer the entire OBI collection to Macaulay—and we're well on the way there, but time is running out.

If you have contributed to OBI over the years, please do consider the merits of maintaining the collection intact. Of course if you chose not to opt-in, that's your decision and will of course be respected, but please be aware that the OBI website and associated images will disappear once the transfer to the Macaulay Library is complete.

Moving forward, OBI will remain a distinct collection within the Macaulay Library, but it will no longer be possible to upload directly to it and users should instead upload their photos via eBird.

As always, all contributors and visitors will have free online access to view uploaded materials in the Macaulay Library, and contributors can download copies of their own media at any time.

OBC thanks all members for their ongoing support of the Club, especially during these difficult times. We hope all members stay safe and well.

Best regards,
OBC Council