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?

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

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Birdsong field guide

Cameroon Indigobird

Vidua camerunensis

The Cameroon Indigobird is a small, brood-parasitic songbird where males exhibit glossy black breeding plumage and mimic the songs of their firefinch hosts.

What it sounds like

A complex mix of raspy 'indigobird' notes and perfect mimicry of the whistles and trills of its specific firefinch host.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

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Rec. Simon Cavaillès · GuineaCC BY-NC-SA Xeno-canto

Field notes

It is a host-specific brood parasite that typically targets the African Firefinch and the Brown Firefinch.
Male plumage is characterized by a metallic blue or greenish-black sheen with contrastingly pale bills and whitish legs.
The species belongs to a cryptic complex where individual identification in the field is primarily determined by the specific host song it mimics.
Chicks develop specialized gape markings that mimic the unique mouth patterns of host nestlings to ensure parental care.
Unlike many other brood parasites, the chicks are non-evictors and are raised alongside the host's biological offspring without killing them.

Habitat

Moist savanna, woodland edges, and scrubby agricultural land.

Range

West and Central Africa, ranging from Sierra Leone to Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Barka IndigobirdVidua larvaticola Broad-tailed Paradise-WhydahVidua obtusa Dusky IndigobirdVidua funerea Eastern Paradise-WhydahVidua paradisaea Exclamatory Paradise-WhydahVidua interjecta Green IndigobirdVidua codringtoni Jambandu IndigobirdVidua raricola Jambandu IndigobirdVidua raricola

Heard a Cameroon Indigobird?

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