With the advent of the Internet and digital cameras, more and more birders are using their equipment to "Digiscope" birds. I have therefore initiated this project to exhibit these images, as well as conventional photos.

The geographic area of interest is a fairly arbitrary one, chosen and given to me by Denis Lepage of Birdlife International. Australasia is defined as including Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The exclusion of Fiji and Irian Jaya is not uncontentious. The species checklist can be found here (with map of Oceania which includes Australasia). A similar project by the Oriental Bird Club the OBC Image Database covers the Asian region, with little overlap in the species covered. The taxonomic order is based on Sibley and Monroe (1990). There are over 1500 species. Creating too many family/group categories on the database would slow the performance on the web to an unacceptable level, so I have opted for some brevity here and not included all categories. Basically, this is an exhibition of images and not a taxonomic resource. In order to simply view images, there is no requirement to register.

Tip: Use the drop-down list to find species.

ABID is intended as a non-commercial resource, though contributors may include links from the images to their own web-sites. I have initiated the database with many pictures of my own and other photographers. I hope that further contributors will upload their own photos and details. However, if you have images which you would like to display, but don't have the resources to edit them, add text or upload, I would be only too pleased to help. Please contact me at aviceda@hotkey.net.au. I will show lesser quality images where no others are available, but please check those already displayed to get an idea of what is required.

As the hosting space is fairly limited, image files submitted should be smaller than 100kb, and no image wider or higher than 600 pixels (at a resolution of 72 dots per inch). Please try to put each species in its correct category, If images of a species type or plumage already exist on the ABID, e.g. male Regent Bowerbird, please try not to put on too many repeats, otherwise we will soon reach the hosting space limit. If you have a species type or plumage not already represented, such as female, male in non-breeding attire, or a different race, please do upload those.

Tom & Marie Tarrant have been interested in all facets of natural history since they were both young, Marie's specialised interest lies with australian native flora while Tom's field of knowledge is mainly with 'old world' avifauna.

We have travelled extensively and studied wildlife in Australasia, Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.

I would like to especially thank Avtar Singh for his assistance in setting up the database. I would also like to thank everyone whose images and references I have used in collating this resource. Please respect copyright and do not use the contributors' images without their permission. I hope you find the database as exciting and useful as I did while setting it up!