#wtbguide

[whatsthebird]

Hi, i have a question before i submit some birds. When you say no human interaction allowed, how rigorous is that? For example I have two images of birds that are interacting with humans- one doesn't have a human present in the image, but is in the process of divebombing one (committed cardinal sin of trying to take laundry off the line while it was nesting nearby) and one which is definitely engaging in human interaction (in that it is being carried outside after flying into a house and getting stuck) Would either of them be appropriate?

hi there!

The human interaction rule does have some nuance, we can parse it out here.

In these examples, the first one is okay and the second one is not.

We'd like to keep people from handling birds on their own, so photos that imply that are usually a no-go. Birds that are acting out of their own free will however, is generally seen as okay.

If you are ever not sure, you can submit both photos and we can have our screening team decide from there.

[whatsthebird]

question for answerers and mod, how do you typically answer the questions/how were they intended to be answered? I usually try and answer them without looking anything up but some people mention things like as if they do, so I'm curious.

Our vision is built around communication between players. We want to encapsulate what it is like on a group bird hike — bad angles and poor lighting included.

We just spawn the bird, and leave it up to you binocular wielding followers to figure out what it is. Answer in any way that makes you happy: no guides/clues, reverse google search, whatever.

There is no wrong way to play this game.

-

That is just our vision though and we've never actually asked.

How do you all play?

Strictly off the dome - no help

if i don't know it i will seek help

i only play if i know it

vibe it out

a lil bit of everything / nuance

Voting ended onJun 3, 2025

[whatsthebird]

lately there are a ton of people in the comments openly discussing answers. is it possible for you to moderate them more strictly so that the rest of us don't get spoiled? thanks for the quizzes and appreciate all you do.

we've noticed an uptick in excitement for our quizzes that has lead to some players missing our "no answers" preamble.

however, we have not and will not moderate these comments on our quizzes. we value the discussions on our posts, and we feel that conversations would shut down if monitored too strictly. our goal has always been centered around starting conversations. that is why we highly encourage using any resources as well.

plus, not every spoiled answer is correct ;)

that being said,

we still encourage discussion under questions be limited to how you came to your conclusion, not what your conclusion was.

if hints take away the value of the quiz for you, we'd recommend voting before you reach the bottom of the post and not going into the comments.

[whatsthebird]

Your Bird ID Submission

The submission MUST include:

Photo(s)

Location - State/Provence at minimum.

Season if the photo isn't recent

Context - What was your bird doing? Any features not caught on camera?

General Rules

Original content only

No human interaction or contact of any kind

Birding content only

Submitters are expected to practice the American Birding Association (ABA) Code of Birding Ethics along with State or Provence laws

No captive bird submissions

If multiple birds in the shot, it must be obvious what bird is the one you are questioning

Any submission that does not follow the guidelines will not be posted.

If you'd like a quicker response time, post your bird following this guide on your blog and tag us in it!

Example:

Bird ID? Indianapolis, IN

Was seen jumping around rocks by a river. Wouldn't sit still for long.

For the Quiz Birds submission guide, click [here]

[whatsthebird]

Hello! If I wanted to submit a bird that is a subspecies would I submit the true answer as "(subspecies) bird name" or just "bird name"? As an example (that I'm not submitting), if someone wanted to submit a Brown Pelican, and it was specifically a California Brown Pelican (P. o. californicus), would you prefer that it be called a "California Brown Pelican", or would just "Brown Pelican" work?

To make things easier on ourselves we are strictly following Clements Checklist for naming conventions of the answers. In your example the submitted answer would just be "Brown Pelican".

Extra information is always welcomed, but we will match the answer to whatever Clements recognizes.

It would be more fun to break things down to subspecies, but we are ultimately unsure on how we would approach it with the current quiz format.

[whatsthebird]

Hi, I'd love to submit pictures I've taken but as I also have a birdwatching sideblog, most of them have been shared online, so I wondered if they were allowed here. Would sending them fit the "original content" rule as I personally took the photographs, or is it also required the pics were never shared before (even if I post them on my blog later)?

Yes absolutely. All we ask is that the photo be personally taken by you.

Be sure to let us know what blog to credit when submitting.

[whatsthebird]

Do you accept audio submissions? I’ve been trying to identify a bird, but I only have an audio clip of its call as I couldn’t identify where the sound was coming from.

Yes!

We ask that you still follow the submission guidelines as normal.

[whatsthebird]

Not a bird, but I think people's pics are getting downsized? Like, I think the original pictures have the features quite clear but when submitted they get very pixelated. I've had this happen with my latest submission. Just a heads up to everyone submitting their pics. Perhaps crop down to have the bird be in most of the frame. :)

sigh. tumblr is gonna tumblr.

we have to re-upload each submission and that can lower quality. so cropping before submission is a great idea. thank you!