Birds are fun to watch, lift our mood with their songs, and play critical roles in ecosystems. The Integrative Ecology Lab at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, USA, is studying bird species in cities and surrounding areas to better understand how bird species provide ecosystem services. To study bird species, we use data collected from audio-recording devices that capture thousands of hours of birdsong and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify which bird species are present in the recordings. However, AI has its limits, and that’s where you come in! By verifying the species identifications that the AI made, you’ll help us enhance the accuracy of the data and advance bird research.
BirdNET is a powerful tool for identifying bird species, but some identifications—like mistaking a dog bark for a Canada goose—require human verification. By confirming a small percentage of recordings, you’ll help us assess BirdNET’s accuracy for each species. With these data, we’ll develop thresholds to more reliably filter out incorrect identifications, saving time and enhancing the quality of our research.
To generate a volunteer certificate confirming your service hours, you must have a Zooniverse.org account.
Go to zooniverse.org, sign in, and click ‘More Stats’. Use the drop-down options on the upper-right of the stats bar chart to filter to a specific time period and/or project of interest. Then click on ‘Generate Volunteer Certificate’ (the button to the bottom-right of your stats bar chart).
