I previously was able to view the feed, but no longer can

Several updates have been made to enhance the quality and viewer experience. Though the updates are immediate, some browsers store information from the older versions. If you experience this, empty your browser cache and clear the history.


The feed indicates that it’s loading, but the load never takes place, or is extremely slow to load

Make sure that you do NOT download applications or files while watching/listening to media streams. Your Internet connection is shared between all open applications including your web-browser, your download manager and your streaming player. Closing applications that use your Internet connection simultaneously with your streaming player may reduce buffering.

Close other unnecessary applications that may be open on your computer. Reboot your computer. If you have other programs open, they may be using too much processor time and/or RAM for the player to work properly.

Make sure your Internet connection is fast enough to reliably listen to streaming audio and/or watch streaming video online. A high speed Internet connection is recommended.

Make sure your computer is fast enough. If your computer is old, it might be too slow to play an audio/video stream regardless of what else it's doing.


The play button is not available or does not work

Make sure that you have java installed on your computer and that it is enabled in your browser. You can check if you have Java installed and running here. If you do not have Java on your computer, you can also download it here.


I can hear the video; why can't I see it?

The primary reason is that you do not have the latest version of FLASH installed on your computer. Please visit Adobe's web site.

If you can hear sound but the video is not showing, it is probably because you are connecting via a telephone dial-up modem which only processes video/audio data at one-sixth the speed that a Broadband connection does. If you have a Broadband connection you may be experiencing network congestion, so try viewing the videos at a later time when the network may be not so busy.


What if I am behind a firewall or have anti-virus software running on my computer?

Some people have installed security software in an effort to reduce their computer's exposure to computer viruses, spyware, adware, etc.. In effect, they have "computer firewalls" installed which are very selective as to what is permitted through from the internet and what isn't.

When viewing videos that are stored on a remote website's server and "streamed" to your computer for viewing, often the security and firewall software will block the data t and you won't be able to play the video.

For example, if you have Norton Internet Security installed on your computer, you could have problems viewing the videos. Depending on the settings within Norton Security, some of the "video data" trying to get through from our secure website server might be blocked by Norton.
When Norton blocks this streaming video data, you won't be able to view the videos. However, to get Norton Internet Security to pass the streaming video data through to your computer, you must create a rule to unblock referrer information for the National Aviary web site.

To create a rule that permits referrer information...
1) Open Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall.
2) Do one of the following:
a) In Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall 2003:
Click Options > Internet Security, and then click the Web
Content tab.
b) In Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall 2004 or
newer: Double-click Privacy Control, and then click Advanced.
3) In the bottom of the Advanced window, click Add Site.
4) In the New Site/Domain box, type the name of our site: www.aviary.org, and click OK. The site name
appears in the left frame of the Options window.
5) Click the name of the new site.
6) On the Global Settings tab, under the Information about visited sites
section, uncheck "Use default settings".
7) Click Permit.
8) Click OK to close the Options window.

Doing this will allow our website server to "stream" the video data to your through your security firewall and will not compromise your Internet security settings in any way