The Bird ID Wizard

The identification wizard is designed to help you identify an unknown bird. Before you start, it may be helpful to read the "Identifying a bird" section. The wizard enables you to enter information on the bird you have seen, and presents you with a shortlist of possible birds. This wizard will work correctly for most birds and most occassions.

Start the Bird ID Wizard

Aims of the Wizard

The ID wizard has two functions. It firstly aims to help users learn the principles of bird identification. Secondly it aims to help the user in finding the identify of a mystery bird more quickly, than would otherwise have been the case.

How does the Bird ID Wizard work?

The ID Wizard works on a simple basis, where you are presented with a list of drop-down lists to help you specify the different characteristics of the bird that you have observed. Enter as much information as you are sure of, in the fields provided and click on the "find my bird" button. The less information you provide, the longer the results list will be. However do not be tempted to enter information that you are not sure about, as this increases the likelihood that you will be presented with birds which are not realistic possibilities.
Once you click on the "FIND MY BIRD" button, the wizard results will be listed in a table below the drop-down lists. The list will contain all the candidate species, along with the group that they belong to, both which will serve as direct links to the specific species or group information page. Please note that the links will open in a new window, so that you do not lose you search results.

To find out more about a specific drop-down list parameter, click on the help icon situated to the right of each drop-down list.
For the characteristic of bills, images of different bill types are provided to help you choose the bill type more easily
If you have suggestions on how we may improve on the Bird ID Wizard, or more species that we should include, please email us with your thoughts.

Wizard limitations:

The wizard is limited in a number of respects.

Firstly, it only contains a selection of birds found in South Africa. Although these are by far the most common species found in the main urban centres of South Africa, it is possible that you see a bird which is not covered. However for the majority of common birds you see in the urban areas, the wizard will work.

The second limitation is that it is difficult to judge the colour, size, leg and bill colours of a bird, particularly if one only gets a fleeting look at a bird. Generally we are not trained to notice all of the little details of a bird we seem, and this is a skill which can only be improved with practise.

The ID wizard is intended to be used a lot, as a tool to improve your bird ID skills!