Saw a bird you don’t recognize? Describe its size, colors and where it was to get likely matches among common North American backyard birds. When photo identification is available, you can also upload a picture for an AI-assisted suggestion.
Photo identification is temporarily unavailable. Describe the bird below and we’ll suggest likely matches.
How identification works — and its limits
Describe-a-bird mode compares your answers with about 35 common North American backyard species using size, color, location and region. It’s a quick way to narrow things down, not image recognition.
Photo mode, when available, sends your photo securely from our server to an AI vision model, which suggests a species, alternatives and the field marks it noticed. Photos aren’t stored on this website. AI suggestions can be wrong — especially for distant, blurry or unusual photos, females and young birds — so we always show a confidence level and look-alikes to rule out.
For a confident ID, compare field marks with a good field guide or the Cornell Lab’s All About Birds, and consider range and season.
How to Identify Birds by Description (watch on YouTube)
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Can this tool identify any bird in the world?
Describe-a-bird mode covers about 35 common North American backyard birds. Photo mode can suggest many more species, but accuracy depends on photo quality and isn’t guaranteed.
Is my photo saved?
Photos aren’t stored on this website. They’re sent to our AI provider only to generate the suggestion.