Listen up, bird lovers!

Calling all Stillwater area bird lovers! Ever wonder who’s singing outside your window at dawn? Meet Haikubox—the tiny, AI-powered recorder using Cornell’s BirdNet that IDs birds by song 24/7. Tap into live data on your phone or laptop and discover which feathered friends share your neighborhood.

Thanks to a donation from Bird City Gardens board member John Wheatley to Sustainable Stillwater MN, we’ve installed Haikuboxes here at Bird City Gardens, the Sally Manzanara Nature Center in Lake Elmo, and near Little Carnelian Lake in Stillwater Township. 

Two more sites are winging their way in 2025! Beyond tracking visits and migration patterns, each box links you to Cornell's eBird, a massive database for deeper dives into birds and their behavior.

Here’s the fascinating part about Haikuboxes—they're not just local—they're now global. Explore a growing online network of devices across the U.S., Canada, and South America by clicking on the app's map. 

Imagine students from different regions swapping bird calls, comparing migration charts, and collaborating on real-time research. That’s next-level learning! We will incorporate it into our student curriculum starting next year. 

The Haikubox company is so enthusiastic about our concept that they have introduced us to a group working on Haikubox-related projects for K-8 students, specifically at Belmont Day School in Massachusetts. The Haikubox Educator’s Forum—an online hub for teachers to share lesson plans, project ideas, and collaborative studies — is being planned.

We can’t wait to watch this community take flight. Follow our journey, join the conversation, and help inspire the next generation of bird enthusiasts and conservationists. Ready to make every tweet count? Let’s do this—together! Email John Wheatley at jnwheatley@comcast.net.