How accurate is Birdsong's bird identifier?

It runs Google's Perch, a research-grade acoustic model covering nearly 15,000 species. When a call is ambiguous, we say so honestly and let you record a second clip to confirm, rather than guessing.

Is my recording stored?

No. Your audio is used to identify the bird in the moment and isn't saved to our servers. The birds you confirm are kept as cards in your own field journal; the recordings themselves are not.

Is the bird identifier free?

Yes — identify birds every day for free, no account required. Birdsong Pro ($3.99/mo or $39.99/yr) unlocks unlimited IDs, full field guides, your growing collection, and shareable Field Report cards.

Do I need an account or internet to identify a bird?

You'll need a connection to identify, since the AI runs in the cloud. No account is needed to try it — sign in with Google or email to save your field journal and sync it across devices.

Birdsong field guide

Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdii

A medium-sized 'peep' shorebird distinguished by its long-winged silhouette and remarkable long-distance migration across the Americas.

What it sounds like

A low-pitched, rasping, and rolling 'preeet' or 'drrrrt'.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

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Rec. Stanislas Wroza · FranceCC BY-NC-SA Xeno-canto

Field notes

Possesses exceptionally long primary feathers that project well beyond the tail tip, an aerodynamic adaptation for its 15,000-kilometer migration.
Unlike many related sandpipers, it prefers foraging in drier, sparsely vegetated areas and upper shorelines rather than wading in deep water.
It is a high-altitude specialist, frequently stopping at mountain lakes and migrating through the interior of the Rockies and the Andes.
Juveniles migrate southward several weeks after the adults, navigating the vast distance from the Arctic to South America entirely on their own.
The species exhibits a 'rodent-run' distraction display, where a parent hunches its back and runs to lure predators away from the nest.

Habitat

Dry Arctic tundra during breeding; inland grasslands, pond margins, and high-elevation lakes during migration and winter.

Range

Breeds in the high Arctic of Siberia, Alaska, and Canada; winters primarily in the Andes Mountains and southern South America.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Broad-billed SandpiperCalidris falcinellus Buff-breasted SandpiperCalidris subruficollis Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferruginea DunlinCalidris alpina Great KnotCalidris tenuirostris Least SandpiperCalidris minutilla Little StintCalidris minuta Long-toed StintCalidris subminuta

Heard a Baird's Sandpiper?

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Identify a bird by its song