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

Japanese Murrelet

Synthliboramphus wumizusume

A small, globally vulnerable auk characterized by its distinctive black crest and blue-gray upperparts, endemic to the coastal waters of East Asia.

What it sounds like

High-pitched, cricket-like whistling or 'ti-ti-ti' chirps used for parent-chick recognition at sea.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

0:00 / 0:52

Rec. Seo Hae-min · South KoreaCC BY-NC-SA Xeno-canto

Field notes

It is the only species in the genus Synthliboramphus that grows a prominent crest during the breeding season.
Chicks are extremely precocial, leaving the nest to jump into the sea only one to two days after hatching.
The species is predominantly nocturnal at its breeding colonies to avoid predation by gulls and large crows.
Global populations are small and fragmented, estimated between 2,500 and 10,000 individuals.
Unlike most alcids, they often nest in crevices or under dense vegetation like Miscanthus grass rather than deep burrows.

Habitat

Nests on uninhabited rocky offshore islands; forages in temperate pelagic and coastal waters.

Range

Endemic to the Japanese archipelago and the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Ancient MurreletSynthliboramphus antiquus Craveri's MurreletSynthliboramphus craveri Guadalupe MurreletSynthliboramphus hypoleucus Scripps's MurreletSynthliboramphus scrippsi

Heard a Japanese Murrelet?

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