‘Gotta catch ’em all’ blasted out of my TV every Saturday morning when I was a child, as Ash Ketchum and his trusty Pikachu lived out my dream of becoming a Pokémon master. And now, if like me you shared that dream, you might be able to live out a more realistic version of it — except instead of Pokémon, it’s birds. Yes, you heard right. A new app lets you “catch” birds in real life, much like Pokémon Go — an exciting concept, no?
The older I’ve got, the more I’ve started to notice birdsong, even downloading an app to identify which bird it might be. Blackbirds, mostly. Now, a new app called Birdex has launched, turning birdwatching and twitching into a real-life game. Who would play that, you might ask? Well, with 200,000 sightings logged so far, the answer seems to be: lots of people.
Working much like Pokémon Go, users earn points every time they spot and log a UK bird species, collecting a digital card as they go. This is where it gets fun — the rarer the bird, the bigger the reward. You can track sightings, build your collection and even compete with friends to see who the top twitcher is.
Birdex aims to educate users about Britain’s wildlife while encouraging people to spend more time outdoors. Speaking to The Guardian, Harry Scott, one of the app’s developers, said: “I think birdwatching and Pokémon do share a lot of similarities. We’re trying to make sure that the screen time [people are] having is a lot more positive… and about using technology… as a tool to learn.”
When you join, you get to even give yourself a nickname and then choose a starter bird, similar to your three starter Pokémon. Whether this was a happy accident, I aren’t sure, but I loved it.
There’s also potential scientific value. Birdex’s logs can be made public, with data shared with charities such as the British Trust for Ornithology, which works to secure the future of birds in the UK. Additional data points could help researchers build a clearer picture of what’s happening to the UK’s bird populations and support struggling species.
According to the BTO, nearly one in six UK bird species is currently threatened with extinction. So a little friendly competition on an app like Birdex could translate into much-needed conservation insights.
Although the weather may be miserable outside today, we’ll definitely be giving the app a go as soon as we can.
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