Frequently asked questions

Bird Lens is an AI bird identifier. Use web tools to analyze a photo, a recording, or written field notes, then explore species guides and reference catalogs on the site.

No. The public identification tools on birdlens.app work without signing in. Agent and API integrations documented in auth.md are also unauthenticated for the public bird-tools endpoints.

Start with Photo ID when you have a clear image, Sound ID when you only captured audio, and Field Notes ID when you observed the bird but have no media. Use Similar Species when you already have two candidate names to compare.

Use a sharp image where the bird fills a reasonable part of the frame. Bill shape, head pattern, wing bars, tail length, and posture matter more than artistic background blur. Include habitat context in your notes when plumage is ambiguous.

JPEG, PNG, and WebP uploads are supported. Very small or heavily cropped images may produce weaker matches.

Juvenile plumage, backlighting, distant birds, hybrid possibilities, and look-alike species can all reduce confidence. The tool is designed to rank candidates and explain limits rather than force a single certain answer.

You upload a bird recording (MP3 or WAV) plus observation notes. The backend sends the audio clip and your notes to our AI gateway for multimodal analysis—it listens to the recording directly rather than transcribing it first.

Aim for at least ten seconds with the target bird loud enough to hear and minimal wind, traffic, or human speech. Repeated phrases or songs help more than a single faint chip note.

No. Speech-to-text would convert audio into words. Sound ID analyzes the acoustic pattern of the bird call or song itself, together with your habitat and behavior notes.

Size and shape, colors and patterns, bill and tail, behavior, habitat, date, and location all help. Note what you ruled out and what you are unsure about.

Use it when you already have two plausible names— for example American Robin vs Eastern Bluebird—and want diagnostic differences for bill, breast, tail, voice, habitat, and season.

Identification requests are processed to return a result. Do not upload sensitive personal content. See the Privacy Policy for retention details and contact support if you have a data question.

Yes. Treat results as educated suggestions, not authoritative records. Confirm with field guides, local experts, eBird checklists, or additional angles before reporting rare species.

Check your connection and try again with a shorter note or clearer media. For product issues, visit /support or email the team with the tool name, device, and what you expected.