About Piranga
Piranga is an interactive website developed to help students, volunteers and professional bird-banders improve their ability to accurately identify, age and sex birds in the hand or in the field, so that they can improve the quality of the data they collect through their banding programs. This module allows bird-banders to easily upload, share and comment on their photographs of birds in the hand, as well as the photos of others, in the hopes of creating a comprehensive library of images for both sexes and all ages of North American species. At present, the site can handle images of any species of bird from Canada, the U.S.A., and Mexico, though there are plans to include species from the Caribbean, Central and South America as well.
Piranga is designed to be used in combination with existing bander training reference materials, such as the ones that follow, to allow the user to practice and improve ageing and sexing techniques without requiring a bird in the hand, and also to provide comparative material in the field.
- Pyle, P. 1997. Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I: Columbidae to Ploceidae. Slate Creek Press, Point Reyes Station, Bolinas, CA, USA. 732 pp.
- Pyle, P. 2008. Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part II: Anatidae to Alcidae. Slate Creek Press, Point Reyes Station, Bolinas, CA, USA. 836 pp.
- North American Bird Banding Manual.
Piranga allows the user to browse through lists of species found in a particular region. Once a species is selected, contributors can see thumbnails of available images, and click on those to enlarge them. Users are encouraged to submit their own photos, and add comments describing how each bird’s age and sex was determined to help other bird-banders learn what to look for. For maximum benefit, users should compare Piranga’s comments and photographs with the descriptions in the reference materials listed above (e.g. Pyle 1997).
Users can also quiz themselves to see how well they are progressing. Before launching the quiz, the user may wish to restrict the species list or even develop their own custom list of species for study using the [Change Lists] option. When the quiz begins, the user will be shown a randomly selected bird from the list and will have a chance to identify the species and determine the bird’s age and sex. All images for that individual will be available during the quiz; the user can simply toggle through them using the [<<] [>>] keys. The species must be correctly identified to get any points.
Note to the user: Do not be discouraged if you have trouble with determining the age or sex on the quiz, especially at first -- even the most experienced banders find it challenging to determine age and sex from photographs. Also, it is possible some photos are incorrectly labelled. If you find a bird for which you disagree with the age, sex or identity, please say so by describing why in the bird’s Comment field. The original contributor, as well as other users, will be able to see your comments and respond to them. If they decide you are right, they can change the original identification, age and/or sex as necessary. This module was created to promote learning; constructive discussions on ageing and sexing are welcomed and encouraged, as they can be excellent learning tools.
IMPORTANT: Most birds are protected in North America by federal, state, provincial or territorial law. Permits are therefore required before birds may be captured or marked. Participants are encouraged to contribute new photographs so the site will continue to improve over time, provided these participants have the appropriate training and government-issued permits required to safely and legally handle wild birds.
