Pet Bird ID by Photo

It began as a guide for one bird in one cage. The name still says pet birds because that is where it started. It has since grown past the window: garden songbirds, herons at the water, owls and penguins from the other side of the world. Where the name and the contents no longer match, we would rather say so on the first screen than let you find out later.

162 SPECIES FROM A PHOTO, IN ELEVEN GROUPS Pet birds: 12 (cockatiel, canary, zebra finch and others) Japanese open-country birds: 10 Japanese woodland birds: 11 Japanese songbirds: 11 Japanese waterbirds: 11 Herons and cranes of the world: 21 (grey heron, demoiselle crane and others) Owls of the world: 22 (burrowing owl and others) Hummingbirds of the world: 20 (Anna's hummingbird and others) Penguins of the world: 18 (Adélie penguin, southern rockhopper and others) Pheasant family of the world: 25 (Indian peafowl and others) Raptors and owls: 8 (common kestrel, northern goshawk and others) With overlaps removed, 162 species. Groups whose members look alike were given their own small model rather than being handed to one big one.

BUILT NOT TO DECLARE At most three candidates, never a single verdict, each with one of three words: very similar, similar, or possibly similar. When it cannot be confident it stays quiet. A bird outside the list is not nudged toward the nearest match. The same photo gives the same answer whenever you try it.

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