FAQ

Haikubox uses a proprietary neural network, (a specific kind of machine learning or artificial intelligence) to identify birds. It’s pretty cool science - thousands of correctly labeled bird sounds make up training dataset which is used to teach a computer to recognize individual bird calls and songs. With enough examples, the computer gets very good at identifying new sounds it hasn’t heard before. This training method is a lot like teaching a toddler the meaning of the word “dog.” It starts with lots of examples and caregiver guidance (“That’s a dog. What a nice dog!”) followed by the child trying out the word when encountering new animals (“Dog?” “No honey, that’s a cat.” vs. “Dog?” “Yes! What a beautiful dog!”).

Every Haikubox includes free features, but a Haikubox+ subscription allows users to explore more.

Free:

• Run the latest version of Haikubox firmware
• Use a global list of birds that may visit your yard
• See and hear birds recorded today, along with data graphs and charts
• Save favorite recordings for later listening, downloading and sharing
• Access the map viewer to see and hear birds identified at other Haikuboxes in our network

Haikubox+: Everything in the free tier, plus...

• Receive instant notifications about visiting birds
• Listen to your birds in real time, from anywhere
• Automatically build a life list of all birds identified, including pre-built data charts and graphs
• See and hear birds recorded in the past 30 days, in addition to those saved as favorites

Yes! You can get a smartphone notification for any species you find interesting when the bird is detected with medium confidence and had not been recently heard. Plus there are “New Bird Alerts” when any new bird is nearby, including migrating birds. New Bird Alerts are triggered when there are five detections of the same bird on one day, and there have been fewer than five detections on each of the previous four days. The reason for this algorithm is to capture species that might be moving through your area -- you can get an alert when birds like warblers migrate through each year. The requirement to have five detections in a day is to reduce alerts when there might be a false detection (which typically only has one or two in a day). You may get an alert for the same species up to six times per month. Set up alerts using the Haikubox mobile app.

Download and sign into the Haikubox smartphone app (Apple or Android) or sign into the listen website to see and hear your birds.

Yes, and it is easy to toggle between your Haikuboxes on the Listen website or smartphone app. Once you connect your second (or third, or fourth!) Haikubox, a dropdown will appear on the site so you can switch between the boxes and monitor all of your birds.

Each Haikubox can only have one owner who has the ability to change security settings and get notifications. The owner is established during the setup process with either the Haikubox 2 smartphone app (available starting August 2026) or the Haikubox Connect legacy smartphone app. Others can view your Haikubox data by signing up for a free Haikubox account and then bookmarking your Haikubox. To bookmark a Haikubox, go to the map, zoom in on the Haikubox and select it to view. Once it loads, click the tab icon next to the Haikubox's name at the top.

You also can share your bird feed (recently identified birds) with anyone by generating a unique website under Settings. Generate the link and then copy and share with friends and family.

Not yet, but you can help make it better. The neural net can be fooled by some non-bird sounds, trickster birds (Blue Jays are known to mimic hawks and Northern Mockingbirds are master imitators), and similar sounding chirps, calls, and tinks. Each identified bird includes a high, medium or low confidence level which indicates how certain the system is of the species prediction. You can help make the Haikubox more accurate by labeling both correct and incorrect identifications. You also can filter your view to hide less confident predictions and any individual species.

The Haikubox neural net can be fooled by some non-bird sounds (e.g., a siren misidentified as an Eastern Screech-Owl), trickster birds (e.g., Blue Jays mimicking hawks), and similar sounding chirps, calls, and tinks. When Haikubox owners label these incorrect identifications they provide us with information used to train newer neural nets, but net development can be a slow, deliberate process. Your labels DO NOT immediately impact the net or what you see in the bird feed. To hide any annoying identifications, we recommend filtering the view to see only higher confidence predictions (use the Medium or High settings) and hide any individual species. In the Haikubox 2 smartphone app, click the eyeball icon on the bird card (unselect them by visiting Settings, Hidden Species); in the website or legacy Haikubox app, slide the “Show” button, found at the top of each bird card, to the left (unselect them from the All page).

You may be able to see the birds by changing the filter to show Low confidence detections, especially if the bird’s song or call was not very loud. Contact us at support@haikubox.com if you still think a species is missing — we may be able to tweak your settings so it appears. This is especially true if you live on the edge of a bird’s range. It will be particularly helpful to let us know if you think it is being misidentified as a different bird, or whether its song/call appears in the background of a different bird recording.  If possible, please send us one or more recordings of the bird to help with troubleshooting.

No. Your Haikubox will record bird songs and identify birds 24/7. The app and website are ways for you to see the identified birds.

Your Haikubox is always ready to identify birds. It records and presents up to 12-second sound samples on the app and website which are also saved in its cloud-based database.

With the Haikubox 2 app, you can try the Live feature to stream recordings of your birds currently being identified by your Haikubox. Creative customers can use this feature to stream the recorded sounds into their homes.

Yes, Haikubox owners can download a CSV file with summary data or individual bird identification data. Log into the Haikubox listen site, go to the All page and look for the blue “Download CSV” button on the right. It is not possible to download data using the app.

Yes! As a Haikubox owner, you can download individual recordings as .wav files. They can be downloaded from the Haikubox listen site or from the Haikubox 2 smartphone app (released August 2026).

Using the website, go to the main bird feed page, choose Last 2 Hours, Last 4 Hours or Last 24 Hours from the View selector, find the species and individual recording you would like to download, and click the download icon. You can also download recordings from the Favorites page which is handy if you plan to download the recording in the future.

From the Haikubox 2 app, downloads are available after you listen to a recording, when the Share button will become visible. They also can be downloaded from the Favorites page by clicking the three dots next to an individual recording.

It depends on several things, including how loud the bird sings and its pitch, and environmental factors such as background noise and even relative humidity. Some species can be heard over great distances (Sandhill Cranes and Canada Geese, for example) while others must be much closer to be heard (such as hummingbirds).

Your Haikubox should automatically reconnect when it drops from WiFi. If it drops frequently, consider installing a WiFi extender or mesh WiFi system. You can try different Haikubox locations or orientations and see whether the signal improved using the Haikubox 2 app. Go to Settings an then click Device Health so see the signal strength over the past few days. Note that the indicator updates approximately every 15 minutes, so you may need to wait a few minutes to see any improvements.

No. The neural net was trained to identify birds, but it does falsely detect some non-bird sounds. Barking dogs, playing children, and irritated squirrels are sometimes incorrectly identified as birds. The net improves when Haikubox users label these sounds. The system is designed to ignore human speech (see the privacy policy) and you can change the privacy settings at any time to make your audio private.

Haikubox currently covers the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and European countries. There are a few test boxes or research devices in other locations including Australia, Mexico and Central/South America.

You will need to go through the connection process using the Haikubox 2 smartphone app (released August 2026) or the Haikubox Connect app, both available through your chosen device's app store. Once reconnected, the device will reset your current GPS location. For either app, be sure to log in using your current Haikubox account information.

For the Haikubox Connect app, open the app and then plug in your device inside near your router. Follow the prompts to teach the Haikubox your new Wifi information.

With the Haikubox 2 app, go to Settings and choose Add a New Haikubox. The connection process will connect your box back to WiFi and find your location so it can appropriately identify birds in your new area.

No. Your Haikubox requires too much power to continuously monitor and record audio. Your Haikubox also requires a way to share data, and a remote location would require cellphone or satellite service, making the box much more expensive to purchase and operate.

Yes, your Haikubox can withstand a temperature range of approximately -40 to 80 degrees C (-40 to 175 degrees F).

The website works best using Chrome, Firefox or Safari; other browsers may not be compatible with all of the listen site’s features.

Yes, Haikubox owners with an active Haikubox+ subscription can look at previously identified birds, listen to their recordings, and view the spectrograms.

You will need to download the free Haikubox 2 app to a mobile device (Apple or Android), ensure that Bluetooth is turned on for that device, and know the name and password for your home's Wifi. Note that the Wifi must be 2.4 GHz and must have a password in order for the connection to be made*. Once in the app, go to Settings and click "Add a New Haikubox" to start the process. It helps to have the device plugged inside, near your router, to ensure a strong Wifi signal throughout the process.

You can find a copy of the Quick Start Guide for all models or view our step-by-step guides. For additional assistance, email us at support@haikubox.com

*Customers may add a password for their Wifi, connect the Haikubox, and then remove the Wifi password, if desired.

Your Haikubox should be hung up outdoors but should be protected from rising or puddling water. Pick a location with strong WiFi and away from distracting sounds (e.g., ticking clocks, air conditioning units).

We do not recommend using an extension cord with your Haikubox. It may be dangerous and may diminish your Haikubox’s performance since it may weaken the WiFi signal and cause noise on your box, making it difficult to hear birdsong.

You will need the Haikubox 2 smartphone app (Apple or Android) to link your Haikubox to your home’s WiFi. Once set up, the Haikubox will run 24/7 without needing to open it in order for it to identify birds. You can use the website to view and listen to your birds, or use the Haikubox smartphone app.

You will need to go through the connection process using the Haikubox 2 smartphone app (released August 2026) or the Haikubox Connect app, both available through your chosen device's app store. Once reconnected, the device will reset your current GPS location. For either app, be sure to log in using your current Haikubox account information.

For the Haikubox Connect app, open the app and then plug in your device inside near your router. Follow the prompts to teach the Haikubox your new Wifi information.

With the Haikubox 2 app, go to Settings and choose Add a New Haikubox. The connection process will connect your box back to WiFi and find your location so it can appropriately identify birds in your new area.

To solve this problem, the Asus BT8 WIFI7 router should be set up with a dedicated 2.4 GHz IoT legacy network to connect the Haikubox.

Absolutely. Once you set up your box, there are settings which allow you to customize your privacy settings, including making all recordings private, hiding your location on the map and/or not sharing data with the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics for research purposes. Look for Security in the Settings section of the website or app (found under Device Settings in the Haikubox 2 app).

Your Haikubox comes with a limited warranty for one-year from the original purchase date. Your Haikubox will be replaced if found to have failed due to faulty material or workmanship while in normal use. Haikubox’s sole obligation under this warranty is to replace, or at Haikubox’s discretion, to repair, free of charge, all defective parts. Proof of purchase is required. Warranty is not valid if damage is caused by the user.

Once the warranty period is over, we will assess whether the Haikubox can be repaired or requires a replacement. We offer a repair service for $39, or when a repair is not possible, for $99 we will replace the hardware and transfer the membership to the new Haikubox.

Please read the terms and conditions for details.