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The Birds of North America (BNA) is an innovative publication covering the life histories of North America's breeding birds, whereby each species account, written in classic handbook style by experts, was published as it become available as a separately bound booklet varying in length from 12-40 pages.

The print version of BNA was completed in 2002 in 18 volumes totalling 18 000 pages as a joint 10-year project of the American Ornithologists' Union, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the US Academy of Natural Sciences.  BNA is now published online by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, USA and is available on subscription as electronic copy.  Both personal and institutional subscriptions rates are available, and for differing periods of time.

Only two species listed by ACAP are covered by BNA: the Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses.  The original texts of these, written by G. Causey Whittow, were published in hard (paper) copy in 1993 as numbers 65 and 66, respectively.  A further 15 species accounts are available for procellariiform seabirds (Arctic Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp., shearwaters Puffinus spp. and storm petrels Oceanodroma spp.) that breed within North America (including the Hawaiian Islands).

Both original albatross accounts have now been updated by Jill Awkerman and David Anderson and republished on the Birds of North America website in June 2008 (Black-footed Albatross) and September 2009 (Laysan Albatross).

References:

Awkerman, J.A., Anderson, D.J. & Whittow, G.C. 2008.  Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes.  In: Poole, A. (Ed).  The Birds of North America Online.  Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/065.

Awkerman, J.A., Anderson, D.J. & Whittow, G.C. 2009.  Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis. In: Poole, A. (Ed).  The Birds of North America Online.  Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/066.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 March 2010