How many bird species exist?

Roughly eleven thousand, though the number shifts as genetic work splits and merges species. Birds are the most species-rich group of land vertebrates after fish.

Does this include extinct birds like the dodo?

The bird pool is living species. Extinct animals live on the dinosaur page instead — which is less of a leap than it sounds, since birds are the surviving branch of the dinosaur family tree.

Random Bird Generator

Hundreds of bird species with photos, conservation status and three facts each.

Loading the full list…

Common

Photo: Lip Kee from Singapore, Republic of Singapore · CC BY-SA 2.0

Birdomnivore

Common ostrich

Struthio camelus

The common ostrich is a big, flightless bird that lives in parts of Africa. It holds the title of the world's largest living bird species. Unlike most birds, it can't fly, but its powerful legs make it a strong runner.

Belongs to a small bird group called ratites, along with just one other ostrich species.
Shares its genus with only one other living relative, the Somali ostrich.
Was once considered to have subspecies until the Somali ostrich was recognized as separate.

SavannaGrasslandDesertAfrica

About this bird generator

This random bird generator pulls from a few hundred bird species and gives you a photograph, the scientific name, the conservation status and three things worth knowing about how the bird lives.

Birds are the best-documented group of animals on Earth — there are around eleven thousand species and an enormous amateur community photographing them — so the pool here is deliberately limited to species that are widely recorded. That keeps results recognisable instead of handing you the fourth subspecies of an obscure warbler.

Birders use it for identification practice, teachers for classroom prompts, and illustrators for drawing subjects. Every bird has its own link if you want to send one to somebody.

What people use it for

Rated 5 out of 5
I put this on the board every Monday and the class has to write six sentences about whatever animal comes up. The photo does most of the work — they argue about it before I have finished reading the name out.
Maya Ellison
Year 4 teacher
Rated 5 out of 5
I use the ocean filter to stock a coastline in about thirty seconds. Getting the conservation status and the habitat alongside the name means I can describe the thing properly instead of inventing details.
Daniel Weiss
Tabletop game master
Rated 5 out of 5
Daily drawing prompts. Most animal randomisers just give you a word, which is useless when you need reference — here I get a photograph I can actually work from, and it keeps handing me species I would never have picked.
Priya Raman
Illustrator
Rated 5 out of 5
The bird generator is my flashcard deck now. I cover the name, look at the photo and try to call it before scrolling. Two hundred-odd species is enough that it stays hard.
Tomas Lindqvist
Birder
Rated 5 out of 5
My six-year-old asks for "one more animal" about forty times a night. The facts are short enough that she remembers them and repeats them at dinner, which was not something I expected from a random button.
Elise Moreau
Parent

Random Bird Generator

Common ostrich

About this bird generator

Some of the birds you can get

What people use it for

Frequently asked questions

More generators