About BIRD
BIRD started with a bird called Pollo
Cats and dogs have had national microchip registers for decades. Birds have had a patchwork of club records, breeder notebooks and social media posts. BIRD brings them together, for every kind of bird and everyone who cares for them.
Why I started BIRD
I’m Steven, and I’ve been around birds for most of my life. I’ve hand-raised many, and I’m a proud volunteer rescuer with WIRES. Most of my rescues are wildlife, but every so often a call turns out to be someone’s pet parrot, and I’ve had the joy of getting some of them back to their families.
I didn’t truly understand what losing a bird feels like until 2025. Pollo was out with his human mum, as he so often was. He went everywhere with her and nothing ever seemed to spook him. But birds can be startled by almost anything, like a sudden noise or a shadow overhead, and in the blink of an eye he was gone. He didn’t know how to find his way back, so he just kept flying.
Some people say a bird is better off in the wild. I’m not here to argue that, but a hand-raised bird has never had to find food or shelter, or escape predators, and rarely survives on its own.
I searched for Pollo for months. I never found him. I blamed myself, and kept asking why I hadn’t given him a leg band. Then I learnt that even a band wouldn’t have helped much: unlike a cat’s or dog’s microchip, there’s no national place to look a band number up. I still hope someone found him and took him in. BIRD is built to honour him.
While I searched, I relied on Facebook groups and lost-pet sites, and met many wonderful people who tried their very best to help. I see their efforts every day, and my heart breaks for every owner going through what I went through. BIRD isn’t here to replace any of them. It’s here so that all of us, working together, give every missing bird a better chance.
I’ve worked in IT for 20 years, 16 of them as a developer, and I built BIRD myself. It’s my contribution to bringing our beautiful angels home safely. If it helps even one bird get home, alongside everyone else’s efforts, it will have been worthwhile.
BIRD is my own project. It isn’t connected to, or endorsed by, WIRES.
Why Australia has no national bird register
It has been looked at. After a 2020 review of how native bird exports are regulated, the federal government commissioned an independent assessment of options for a national registration scheme for native and exotic live birds. It found that a comprehensive, mandatory scheme would cost government and the community more than it would deliver, and the department concluded that a national bird registration scheme “cannot be justified at this time”. An earlier scheme, the National Exotic Bird Registration Scheme, closed in 2002. Since 2007, the voluntary Exotic Bird Record-Keeping Scheme has helped keepers show their exotic birds are held legally, but it isn’t a register anyone can search to find a lost bird’s owner. Read the assessment and decision.
That work was about stopping illegal trade in birds, not about getting lost birds home. But it leaves Australia with no national place to look up a bird’s band or microchip. BIRD is voluntary, free, and costs governments nothing. We’re happy to stand in, and to work with governments, councils and regulators who’d like to use it, learn from it or build on it. BIRD isn’t a government scheme and isn’t endorsed by any government.
A shared standard for leg bands
Every club, association and manufacturer numbers its bands its own way, so the same number can belong to many birds. I’m drafting an optional standard for traceable leg bands, in consultation with rescuers, clubs and associations, vets and band manufacturers. We’ll publish it as a draft soon and invite public comment and feedback. Once it’s adopted, we’ll advocate for it.
It won’t replace anyone’s scheme. BIRD will always accept every band, microchip and ID exactly as it’s written. More on bands and the standard.
What we stand for
How we run BIRD
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Birds first
Every decision starts with what gets more birds home safely.
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Cooperative
We work alongside clubs, associations, vets, rescues and existing registries, and adopt their schemes as they are.
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Private by default
Owners decide what’s shared. Finders never see an owner’s details unless the owner chooses to share them.
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Free to use
Owners, finders, breeders, clubs and professionals never pay to use BIRD.
Who runs BIRD
BIRD is operated by PAPACITO PTY LTD (ABN 44 669 345 500), an Australian company. I’m its sole director and owner. There are no other owners, investors or stakeholders.
The name
BIRD stands for Bird Identification and Recovery Database, which is where BirdDB.au comes from. It’s for every bird, banded or not: a band or microchip makes a match quicker, but photos, colours and markings identify a bird too.
Why a company, not a charity?
Setting up a charity in Australia takes a long time and a lot of red tape, and I didn’t want birds to wait. So BIRD started inside my own company, which is a home for my ideas and projects: my DJ PAPACITO persona and music releases, and the WhatsNear, PintCheck and Refrendo apps. BIRD’s data is kept separate, and is never shared with, or used by, any of them.
BIRD isn’t built to make a profit, and will most likely run at a loss. I hope to move it to a charity in future, but today BIRD is not a charity, so money paid to it can’t be claimed as a tax deduction. It is not a government agency and isn’t endorsed by any government. Registering a bird on BIRD isn’t proof of legal ownership, and doesn’t replace any licence or permit your state requires.
How BIRD is funded
Today, BIRD has no funding: I pay its running costs myself. In future, partnerships with band manufacturers whose bands meet the optional standard, and support from people who’d like to help, may cover some of them. Any money BIRD brings in goes back into running it. Partners will never pay to change how a bird is matched, and will never get access to owners’ details. We don’t sell data, to partners or anyone else.
Where your data lives
BIRD’s database runs on servers in Australia. Photos and email delivery use specialist providers. Our privacy policy explains exactly what we hold, why, and where.
Join in
Help build Australia’s bird registry.
Register your birds, tell your club, or talk to us about working together.