About Luistervink

Luistervink lets you 'see' live which birds are singing, whistling, chirping, and chattering at selected locations in the Netherlands. You can also see how often the sound of a particular bird species has been heard, per day, month, and all time. Who sings the highest song? Which bird species live here or just hop by? How many species do you hear? How does their chirping change throughout the year? Are there different species in the city or just outside it? Do you hear different species in each city? And what flies overhead? We have installed a device at these locations that works with artificial intelligence (AI) and has become so smart that it can recognize birds better than many humans. But sometimes even AI makes a mistake. It might mistake a sound from the skate park for a tawny owl or a burst of laughter for a ring-necked parakeet. The sounds are not recorded, and Luistervink recognizes birds with just 3 seconds of their sound.

Our Mission

Our mission is to bring people closer to nature by letting them listen to the world around them. We want to make bird sounds accessible to everyone and contribute to nature conservation by creating awareness about the rich biodiversity of birds in the Netherlands.

The Team

With Luistervink, you can experience the bird world up close day and night, learn a lot, and make new discoveries! Luistervink was started in 2024 as an initiative of the municipality of Utrecht, and ecologists Folkert de Boer and Jan van der Winden of Lowland Ecology Network. In collaboration with Maurice Prins (technical mastermind), Gijs Straathof (software), Eric Kooijman (web design) and Timon Vader (illustrations). Bird illustrations by Elwin van der Kolk. Recognition is with the help of BirdNET Analyzer and we gratefully use BirdnetPi.

Contact

If you have a comment or question, please email us: [email protected]
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