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

Yellow-breasted Bunting

Emberiza aureola

A once-abundant Eurasian passerine, the Yellow-breasted Bunting is now critically endangered due to rapid population declines driven by illegal trapping.

What it sounds like

A clear, melodic song of 4–6 liquid, high-pitched notes; flight call is a sharp, metallic 'zrit'.

Reference call, compare with what you heard

No reference call found yet · Xeno-canto

Field notes

The species was reclassified from Least Concern to Critically Endangered in just 13 years due to extreme overexploitation.
Breeding males display a distinctive dark chocolate-brown head and a narrow chestnut collar across a bright yellow breast.
It is a long-distance migrant, with some populations traveling over 4,000 miles between northern breeding grounds and Southeast Asian wintering sites.
Illegal hunting for the 'rice bird' trade in China is the primary driver of its near-extinction, despite being legally protected since 1997.
Unlike many other buntings, it often congregates in massive communal roosts during the winter, making it highly vulnerable to mist-netting.

Habitat

Open scrubland, wet meadows, and river valleys with thickets; winters in rice paddies, reed beds, and grasslands.

Range

Breeds across northern Eurasia from Finland to Japan; winters in Southern and Southeast Asia.

Similar & commonly confused birds

Black-faced BuntingEmberiza spodocephala Black-headed BuntingEmberiza melanocephala Brown-rumped BuntingEmberiza affinis Cabanis's BuntingEmberiza cabanisi Cape BuntingEmberiza capensis Chestnut BuntingEmberiza rutila Chestnut-eared BuntingEmberiza fucata Cinereous BuntingEmberiza cineracea

Heard a Yellow-breasted Bunting?

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