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AI Bird Photo Identification on Birda
AI Bird Photo Identification on Birda

Birda supports AI bird photo ID for species in North America, Europe and Southern Africa, with more regions to be added soon.

John White avatar
Written by John White
Updated this week

Use Birda's fantastic AI software to get an instant answer to your bird photo identification questions. If you are still unsure of the species, then simply post the sighting as unidentified and the Birda community will help you with the identification!

Step-by-Step guide to using AI Bird Photo Identification on Birda

  1. Open Birda and press the blue plus button in the bottom center of the screen.

  2. Select Photo ID.

  3. Either take a photograph with your phone's camera (which will take your current Location and time into consideration) or access your phone's library.

  4. Crop the image so it just contains your bird. The tighter the crop, the more accurate the identification...

  5. Next, the date and location will either be taken from the image or you'll be prompted to add the location and time/date of your sighting. We use the sighting location to help with the identification so if you are adding this manually, make sure it is accurate.

  6. Your results will load with a likelihood percentage.

  7. Now simply select the correct species and you can log your bird as a sighting to get it added to your birdwatching life list.

  8. You have 5 Photo ID's when using Birda freely but with Birda+, you can do this unlimited.

What countries/regions does the AI Photo ID work in?

Birda supports AI-based bird photo identification for species in the following regions (with more regions being added soon):

  • North America

  • Europe

  • Southern Africa

Are all species covered for each region?

Birda's AI model is training is primarily prioritised based on how common each species is in a given region and then by the number of photos we have of each species.

North America: 99% coverage of the top 700 most commonly seen North American species and 41% coverage for the remaining least commonly seen North American species.

Europe: 98% coverage of the top 700 most commonly seen European species and 30% coverage for the remaining least commonly seen European species.

Southern Africa: 88% coverage of the top 700 most commonly seen Southern African species and 34% coverage for the remaining least commonly seen European species.

Is Birda working on improving coverage in North America, Europe and Southern Africa?

Yes, we will be making regular updates to the AI model as we get more training data for species without coverage.

Is Birda working on improving the performance of the AI model?

Yes, we will be making regular updates to the AI model based on species performance reporting. So when we see that the model is now performing well for a specific species, we will review our training data to improve model performance.

Why is the location and date required to get an identification?

Birda requires the date and location of the sighting for two reasons. The first is to improve the accuracy of suggestions, so please make sure you use an accurate location and date. The second is so that you can immediately post the sighting to Birda after getting an identification for your photo.

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