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

Great-tailed Grackle

Quiscalus mexicanus

A large, highly social icterid known for its dramatic sexual dimorphism and remarkable adaptability to human-altered landscapes.

What it sounds like

A boisterous and complex repertoire of piercing metallic whistles, mechanical clicks, and loud, rusty-gate rattles.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

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Rec. Albert Lastukhin · Costa RicaCC BY-NC-ND Xeno-canto

Field notes

Males possess a distinctive, V-shaped 'keeled' tail that can be nearly half their total body length.
The species has executed one of the fastest range expansions of any North American bird, moving from the Rio Grande Valley to southern Canada in under a century.
They exhibit high cognitive flexibility, performing as well as crows in laboratory tasks involving causal reasoning and tool use.
In urban settings, they frequently form massive communal winter roosts consisting of several thousand individuals in well-lit parking lots.
During courtship, males perform a 'head-up' display, pointing their bills vertically to signal social dominance and territorial boundaries.

Habitat

Urban parks, agricultural fields, coastal marshes, and open areas with scattered trees.

Range

Central and Western United States through Mexico and Central America to northwestern South America.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Boat-tailed GrackleQuiscalus major Carib GrackleQuiscalus lugubris Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula Greater Antillean GrackleQuiscalus niger Nicaraguan GrackleQuiscalus nicaraguensis Slender-billed GrackleQuiscalus palustris

Heard a Great-tailed Grackle?

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