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

Black Hornbill

Anthracoceros malayanus

A medium-sized, forest-dwelling bird characterized by its near-entirely black plumage and significant sexual dimorphism in bill coloration.

What it sounds like

A sequence of harsh, guttural barks and raspy croaks, often described as a dry 'ark-ark-ark-ark'.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

0:00 / 0:42

Rec. Kim Chuah Lim · MalaysiaCC BY-NC-SA Xeno-canto

Field notes

Males possess a large ivory-white bill and casque, while females have a smaller, predominantly blackish bill.
Females are distinguished by a pinkish patch of bare skin around the eye, which is dark or blackish in males.
It is a critical seed disperser for large-seeded rainforest trees, including those in the Meliaceae and Myristicaceae families.
Some individuals exhibit a broad, white supercilium or stripe behind the eye, a trait that varies significantly across populations.
The female undergoes a voluntary imprisonment during nesting, sealing herself into a tree cavity with a paste of fruit, mud, and feces.

Habitat

Lowland primary evergreen rainforests, peat swamp forests, and occasionally tall secondary growth below 600 meters.

Range

Southeast Asia, specifically the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and several offshore islands.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Malabar Pied-HornbillAnthracoceros coronatus Oriental Pied-HornbillAnthracoceros albirostris Palawan HornbillAnthracoceros marchei Sulu HornbillAnthracoceros montani

Heard a Black Hornbill?

Open Birdsong, tap record, and identify the bird singing near you in seconds — then collect it in your field journal.

Identify a bird by its song