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

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Contopus virens

A small, olive-gray flycatcher of the forest mid-story, best known for its melancholic, slurring whistle. It is a sit-and-wait predator that captures flying insects in acrobatic mid-air maneuvers.

What it sounds like

A clear, plaintive, three-syllable whistle: 'pee-ah-wee', often followed by a rising 'pee-oo'.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

0:00 / 0:31

Rec. Rory Nefdt · United StatesCC BY-NC-SA Xeno-canto

Field notes

It builds a tiny, cup-shaped nest on horizontal branches, camouflaging it with lichens to look like a natural tree knot.
Unlike many similar-looking flycatchers, the Eastern Wood-Pewee lacks a conspicuous eye-ring.
As a suboscine passerine, its complex song is innate and genetically programmed rather than learned from its parents.
It is a long-distance migrant, traveling thousands of miles to winter in the northern Andean foothills and Amazon basin.
It exhibits a 'sallying' foraging behavior, often returning to the exact same dead branch after catching an insect in flight.

Habitat

Deciduous and mixed forests, often preferring edges and clearings with open understories.

Range

Breeds throughout eastern North America; winters in northern South America.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Blackish PeweeContopus nigrescens Cuban PeweeContopus caribaeus Dark PeweeContopus lugubris Greater PeweeContopus pertinax Hispaniolan PeweeContopus hispaniolensis Jamaican PeweeContopus pallidus Jamaican PeweeContopus pallidus Lesser Antillean PeweeContopus latirostris

Heard a Eastern Wood-Pewee?

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