Critter Cams

Each Spring, thousands of web cams start streaming video as wildlife prepares new homes and starts to raise their young. We’ve reviewed many and recommend these sites as some of the most fun and most unusual. Simply click on any critter image to open a window to that critter cam site. We’ll continue to add more as the season progresses.

NOTE: Several of the CAMS will show season highlights when they are “off air”. Typically the “off air” or “LIVE” notice is in the lower right-hand corner.

Watching and discovering backyard wildlife can be an exciting way to stay connected to the great outdoors. Capturing video of wildlife in its natural habitat can be a challenging task in remote locations.

Although deer cameras provide great quality pictures, they are unable to provide high quality video. For video capturing in both day and night we used this wireless security camera with built-in 32GB storage so we can showcase how you too can discover wildlife from the comforts of your home or even while you’re away…

Click here to learn how America’s zoos use video technology to keep animals healthy and safe.

"HOW-TO" CRITTER CAM

BALD EAGLE

Each year the Decorah Eagles enthrall nature lovers across the world. Located at the Raptor Resource Project in Decorah, Iowa,Director Bob Anderson uses a live web cam to monitor the nest. Each year eggs are laid, eaglets hatch and the world watches them learn to fly.

View Bald Eagle Cam

OSPREY

This is one of several osprey nests in Boulder County, Colorado.  In the spring of 2003, this osprey pair began nesting on a light pole at the Boulder County Fairgrounds and returned each year. In 2009, wildlife biologists moved the nest to its current location just east of the Cattail pond for the birds’ safety. The pair shifted to the new location with ease.

View Osprey Cam

SANDHILL CRANE

One of America’s Greatest Wildlife Spectacles
From the Rowe Sanctuary in Nebraska on the Platte River. This area is the resting point for nearly a half million sandhill cranes during Spring migration. The cranes leave in the morning and return in the evening. The sound of so many birds in one spot is really something. Put this place on your bucket list for mid-March and you will have a lifetime experience. Best viewing early morning and late evening.

View Sandhill Crane Cam

BALD EAGLE

This is the third year broadcasting a live feed from a Bald Eagle nest in the Minneapolis St. Paul metro area. We believe this is the same pair or eagles that have been using this nest for several years. We officially have three chicks in the nest! It took nearly a week for all three to hatch, but they all look healthy and alert today. The parents are feeding each of them regularly and are doing a good job of sheltering them from the cold. March tends to be our snowiest month, however, so stay tuned!

View Bald Eagle Cam

ATLANTIC PUFFER BURROW

Atlantic Puffins spend most of their time at sea — coming to land each spring to breed in colonies on northern seacoasts and rocky islands, like Seal Island in Maine, home to the puffins visible on our live cam. These colorful pigeon-sized birds lay one egg in their burrow homes, with the male and female sharing duties.

View Atlantic Puffer Burrow Cam

PEREGRINE FALCON

The camera is remotely deployed to view one of Mississippi’s known pairs of Peregrine Falcons. It provides live video of this nesting pair 24 hours a day and is equipped with low light color vision.

View Peregrine Falcon Cam

PEREGRINE FALCON

A well placed webcam in a nesting box. These live images are being taken from a Peregrine falcon nest maintained by ODNR, Division of Wildlife. The nest and cams are located on the 41st floor of the Rhodes State Office Tower in Columbus, Ohio.

View Peregrine Falcon Cam

GREAT HORNED OWL

This nest is located in  Charlo, Montana.  A powerful and adaptable bird of prey, the Great Horned Owl has the most extensive range, the widest prey base and the most variable nesting sites of any American owl.

View Great Horned Owl Cam

BROWN BEAR & SALMON

This is a feed from Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska   Every year over a hundred Brown Bears descend on a mile long stretch of Brooks River to feast on the largest Sockeye Salmon run in the world.  Mid-July is the peak of the activity.

View Brown Bear & Salmon Cam

BELLA HUMMINGBIRD

Bella Hummingbird’s nest in La Verne, Southern California. Little Bella the hummingbird has been nesting in the branches of a ficus tree in La Verne, California since at least 2005. Diligently raising up to four to five broods every year, in a nest the about size of half a golf ball. Each of her precious eggs are slightly bigger than a Tic Tac. After about two and a half weeks, the eggs hatch and the tiny little chicks will begin exploring the world. Bella protects her babies and feeds them a diet of insects and nectar. The babies fledge 21-25 days from hatch and are ready to discover the joys of flight. Join our loyal community of viewers in watching this patient mother throughout her breeding season

View Bella Hummingbird Cam

HONEY BEE LANDING ZONE

Get a glimpse inside a hive thanks to two cameras that explore.org installed in a hollow log in Waal. Germany. One of the live feeds moves throughout the colony, and you can watch the bees as they build combs and produce honey. The second camera focuses on the entrance to the hive, and insects can be seen constantly coming and going. U.S. beekeepers estimate that in the past year, 40 percent to 50 percent of the hives needed to pollinate the nation’s produce have been wiped out by colony collapse disorder.

View Honey Bee Landing Zone Cam

CAYMAN ISLANDS REEF

Here is your lens in to the underwater world of the Cayman Islands. The reef cam is located less than 1km from Ocean Frontiers dive boat dock, inside our protected lagoon. The reef cam video is only visible during daylight hours as this is a true live feed. A high speed internet connection of 5MB or higher is recommended. (A Teens4oceans Project).

View Cayman Island Reef Cam