eNature.com Offers Online Field Guides

eNature ( http://www.eNature.com/ ) has launched an animal portal that includes searchable field guides at http://www.eNature.com/guides/select_group.asp .. The guides are derived from the Audubon Field Guide books. From the URL listed above, you'll be given the option to pick a group of flora or fauna -- birds, mammals, spiders, trees, etc. I picked birds. From there you'll given the option of picking a type of bird (hawk-like bird, long-legged wader, tree-clinging bird, etc.) or enter the name or part of a bird name. Entering "owl" got me the first twelve of twenty-two owl images. Clicking on the short-eared owl image got me an owl picture and a variety of information - description, voice, habitat, range, nesting, etc. You can enlarge the picture on this page by clicking on it. (Too bad they don't have audio of the owl's call, though.) Some entries have more than one picture available.

If you actually know your flora and fauna and want to do more than browse, every group has an advanced search. For example, the advanced search for the bird group ( http://www.eNature.com/guides/select_species.asp?searchType=a&curGroup=Birds ) allows you to search by color, size, habitat, and region.

eNature also has an ask-the-expert feature, habitats guides, and feature materials. Its press release promises "a complete guide to national and local parks and outdoor attractions... content will be coupled with extensive daily coverage of news of the natural world, reports from remote research sites on new discoveries, webcam visits to exciting natural places and events, and features and photos on the fascinating facts and findings of amateur and professional naturalists." The field guides alone make it worth a look, but if they add everything they promise it's gonna be droolworthy.

Posted to Science-Biology