How to use it
The dataset loads automatically once you close
this panel — then switch between the
Parallel Coordinates and
Habitat ↔ Diet Flow tabs.
Parallel Coordinates draws every
species as a line crossing four axes: body mass,
habitat breadth, diet breadth, and the Ecological
Specialization Index (ESI) — which is itself
a formula of the two breadth axes next to it, so
watching a line's path across those three
right-hand axes shows the formula resolve in real
time. Lines are colored by IUCN conservation
status. Hover a line to see that
species' photo, name, and its values across all
four axes. Drag up or down on
any axis to brush a range on it — only
species that fall within the range on
every currently-brushed axis stay
visible, and the table below filters to match.
Click an axis without dragging to clear just that
axis's brush, or use
Clear all selections to reset
everything at once.
Habitat ↔ Diet Flow is a
Sankey diagram: every species' primary habitat on
the left, primary diet on the right, connected by
a ribbon sized to how many species share that
exact pairing. Hover a node to
highlight its ribbons, or a ribbon for its exact
count and conservation-status breakdown.
Click a node or ribbon to filter
the table below to just those species; use
Clear selection to reset.
On both tabs, hover a chart
element or a table row to highlight the other one
— they're always linked in both directions.
Hovering a species' name shows its photo; clicking
the name opens its full species profile. Click any
column header in a table to sort by it.
About this data
The species data on this page comes from
BIRDBASE, a peer-reviewed global
dataset of avian biogeography, conservation,
ecology, and life-history traits — 78 traits
for 11,589 species across 254 families,
synthesized from 367 published sources spanning
1957–2025.
Şekercioğlu, Ç.H., Kittelberger, K.D., Mota,
F.M.M. et al.
BIRDBASE: A Global Dataset of Avian
Biogeography, Conservation, Ecology and Life
History Traits.
Scientific Data (2025).
This page is a downstream retelling of that
dataset, not a replacement for the source —
see the full
paper on nature.com
for methodology, sources, and citation details.
