WhatBird Press Release

Whatbird: 21^st century takes flight

sausalito, ca, october 23, 2005:  Wildlife viewing is the fastest growing outdoor activity, and birds are the most enchanting of the wild animals we encounter on a daily basis. Nearly 46 million Americans take bird watching trips each year.

Sighting of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, thought to be extinct for decades, draws birders from around the world to an Arkansas swamp. Long lines cue up to watch penguins march across the screen. Backyard bird feeders consume millions of pounds of grain a year. And now we shudder at the prospects of Avian flu arriving in North America.  

Birds both thrill and haunt us. And yet with so much interest in our avian friends, the question remains: where do we go to learn about them? The standard reply, until recently was the field guide -- a book whose basic system of identification has remained the same for over 100 years. Thanks to the computer, bird identification is now easier than ever before.

As an entrepreneur, birder and software publisher, Mitch Waite wondered if modern technology could help people identify birds more quickly then the unchanged page turning technology of book based field guides. Why not design software so people can quickly identify a bird by clicking on just a few characteristics, like its color, shape or song? Not a Google search, since that returns millions of web pages, but rather a database of birds organized in the way people think, based on visual icons and an intelligent search engine. His idea -- to use clicking instead of page turning --eventually became a web site WhatBird (http://www.whatbird.com). And within months WhatBird.com became the defacto standard for identifying birds and learning all about them and a model for the future of the field guide.

WhatBird's highly visual, easily navigated database uses something called parametric search which allows you to find what you are looking for in a few easy steps. Each step narrows the search results, as opposed to most search engines that provide an all or nothing approach. Whatbird.com is now a holy grail of descriptions, hand drawn illustrations, maps, quizzes, photos, video and audio recordings of over 800 species of birds in North America -- all accessible in a simple web browser or via a cell phone or PDA.

Supported by a group of ornithologists, including David Lukas and Simone Whitecloud, the site not only provides valuable information, but allows people to communicate with experts who can answer any questions you have about birds, helping to make it the preeminent online community for birders and nature lovers who share this passion.  The site is so accurate and easy to use that the Wild Birding Institute is using it for Project Wildbird, a three year study on backyard bird feeding habits. 

Bird watching is one of the fastest growing hobbies in America, with over 46 million people involved according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The market for identification books is huge, several billion dollars a year -- one popular book has over 2.5 million copies in print. With birds in the news each day from the re-discovery of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, to fears about West Nile Virus or Avian Flu spreading to humans, this site provides a valuable tool for people seeking more information about birds.  

To learn more about Whatbird.com or schedule an interview, please contact Mitch Waite at mitch@whatbird.com or call 415 888 3233.

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