The app
What is ParrotSense?
ParrotSense is a care app for people who live with companion birds: parrots, parakeets, cockatiels, canaries and finches. Each bird has its own profile, and the tools hang off it: droppings, water and daily checks, weight in grams, a diet guide and mix check, a fresh-mix builder, a seed-to-pellet plan, a safety checker, egg, feather and weight logs, medications, a care calendar, activity and checklists, vet documents, insurance claims, a vet report and backup. It also reads your bird’s calls, songs and talking together with what you tell it, then suggests what to do next. See all features
Is this just a bird sound translator?
No. Listening is one part of it, and bird calls do not translate into words anyway. Most of the app is daily care: logging weight and droppings, planning food, checking whether something is safe, and keeping records for your avian vet. None of that needs a recording.
Which birds does it work with?
Budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, parrotlets, conures, Quakers, caiques, African greys, Amazons, eclectus, cockatoos, macaws, ringnecks, canaries, zebra finches and society finches, with “other parrot” and “other bird” for anyone else. A profile holds species, sex, life stage (chick, juvenile, adult or senior) and weight in grams. Not sure of the sex? That is fine. Many parrots look alike, so a DNA test is the normal way to know.
I have more than one bird. Does it work for a flock?
Yes. Each bird gets its own profile and its own records, all on one plan. For a recording of two or more of your birds, Bird Dialogue Mode looks at how they call and answer each other, and at any signs of tension.
When does ParrotSense launch?
Soon. It launches first on iPhone and iPad, with Google Play and Amazon soon after. There is no store listing yet, so any ParrotSense store link you find elsewhere is not ours. This site will show the store badges as soon as they are live.
Is there an Android version?
Not yet. iPhone and iPad come first, with Google Play and Amazon soon after.
Does it work on iPad?
Yes. ParrotSense is built for iPhone and iPad, on iOS 15 or later.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Mostly, yes. Your records and logs, the diet guide and the safety checker all live on your device. The part that needs a connection is the analysis of a recording, because it goes to our backend.
Do I need to create an account?
No. There is no login. The app uses an anonymous identity only to secure requests to our backend.
The analysis
Can ParrotSense translate my bird’s sounds?
Not word for word. Bird calls do not translate into words, so there is no sentence to find. You get the likely meaning, how sure the app is (low, medium or high), what to do next and when to call your avian vet. Every reading is a possibility, never a fact. How the analysis works · Can an app translate bird sounds?
Will it tell me what my parrot’s words mean?
No. It can note that a sound is talking or mimicry, but the analysis is told never to say what the words mean to your bird. Do parrots understand what they say?
How does the analysis work?
Record up to 3 minutes, or upload an MP3, M4A, MP4 or AAC file of up to 3 minutes. Longer clips are cut to their loudest part before they are sent. Google’s Gemini AI service, called from our backend, listens to the sound itself (tonal or noisy, the pitch, the length, the rhythm, whether it repeats with each breath) and reads it against published research on how companion birds use their voices, along with your bird’s profile and what you report.
Why does it ask about the situation and body language?
Because the same sound can mean different things, and research has not found a reliable way to tell a distress call from a loud contact call by sound alone. So you pick a session (Everyday, Left alone, or Breathing / health), flag anything worrying, and say how your bird looks: breathing, feathers, posture, eyes, crest and more. It is weighed as your report, and the sound still decides. Why context changes everything
Can it tell whether my bird is sick or in pain?
No. We found no peer-reviewed study showing that audio can detect illness or pain in a companion bird, and the analysis is told never to name a diagnosis. Birds hide illness, so a normal-sounding call does not prove your bird is well. What the app does do is show a fixed warning as soon as you report a danger sign, before the analysis and even if the analysis fails. Signs of a sick bird
Does the app use a third-party service for the AI?
Yes. The analysis runs on Google’s Gemini AI service, called from our own backend. The app asks your permission before it sends any audio, and you can turn this off in Settings.
What is Bird Dialogue Mode?
A second mode for a recording with two or more of your birds in it. You select each bird in the recording, and it reads how they call and answer each other, who seems to start it, and any signs of tension.
Is there a limit on analyses?
Yes. The plan includes a daily allowance of analyses, which resets the next day. The free trial has its own daily allowance. The logs and other tools do not count toward it.
Health, food and records
What should I do if my bird seems sick right now?
Call your avian vet or an emergency clinic now, and do not wait until tomorrow. For anything swallowed, ASPCA Animal Poison Control is on (888) 426-4435 (24 hours a day, a fee may apply). Do not syringe-feed a weak bird, do not give remedies, and do not try to make your bird vomit. Signs of a sick bird · Finding an avian vet
Where does the health guidance come from?
Published veterinary sources, such as the Merck Veterinary Manual and the Association of Avian Veterinarians, along with veterinary schools, ASPCA Poison Control and peer-reviewed research. We do not use bird or pet food companies as sources. Each safety checker entry shows its source. Where no trusted source exists, the app says so rather than guess.
Does the app tell me how much to feed my bird?
Not in grams. No qualifying source gives owners a gram figure for any companion species, so the diet guide shows about what share of the day’s food to offer for your bird’s species group, and it has no calorie plan. Treats count toward the total. Diet changes go through your avian vet. Nutrition and feeding tools · What do parrots eat?
Does it help me move my bird to pellets?
Yes. The seed-to-pellet plan goes slowly, with weight and droppings checks, and any warning sign stops it. Never try to starve a bird into eating pellets. How to switch a bird to pellets
Can I check whether a food, plant or household item is safe?
Yes, in the app. The safety checker covers foods, plants, household hazards like fumes and metals, and medicines. Each entry gives a verdict and its source. If an item is not listed, that is not a yes. How the safety checker answers · Non-stick fumes and birds
How does the weight tool decide something is wrong?
It compares your bird with your bird. Weigh in grams on a gram scale, and the app warns at a 10% change from your bird’s own baseline. Species figures are shown only as a typical size and never flag a bird as under or over. Bird weight chart
What do the health logs tell me?
You log droppings (feces, urates and urine), fresh water and daily checks: resting breathing, tail bob, sitting fluffed and how alert your bird is. There is no home heart rate or temperature. Each entry gets a plain verdict: nothing flagged, worth a check, within a day, or go now. “Nothing flagged” does not prove your bird is well. Health log · Bird droppings chart
Can it track egg laying, feathers and weight?
Yes. Egg laying keeps an egg log, watches for repeat laying and shows the signs of egg binding, which is an emergency. Feathers logs damage, plucking and molts. Weight and liver keeps your weight trend and a short yes or no home check to show your avian vet; weight alone cannot diagnose fatty liver, and your vet can. Conditions · Egg binding · Feather plucking
Is this a substitute for an avian vet?
No. ParrotSense gives you information and organization, not a diagnosis, and it never suggests a dose. Your avian vet is always the authority.
Can I share records with my avian vet?
Yes. The vet report is a plain-text summary of the last 14, 30 or 90 days, facts only and no diagnosis, that you can share before a visit. Vet documents can be shared from their own screen, and insurance claims export as a CSV. Records and backup
Where are my bird’s records stored?
On your device, not on our servers. If iCloud Backup or a computer backup is on for your device, iOS can include this app’s data in that backup. Otherwise records, vet documents and insurance claims leave your device only when you choose to share them or back them up.
What happens to my records if I stop paying?
They stay yours. Your logs, medications, care calendar, condition logs, documents, claims, vet report and past results stay viewable and exportable, and backup and restore keep working. Adding new entries needs an active plan, as do the analysis, the diet guide with its mix check, the fresh mix, the seed-to-pellet plan and the safety checker. Saved fresh mixes, the mix check and a running seed switch sit on food screens, so until you resubscribe you can only reach them through a backup file.
How do I move everything to a new phone?
Back up & restore writes one file with every bird and record. Save it to Files or iCloud Drive and restore it on the new phone. Restore adds what is missing, and where a record is in both places it keeps the newer copy. Past Listen results and the vet document files themselves are not in the backup, so keep your originals.
Price, trial and the care program
What is free, and what is Premium?
Every guide on this website is free to read. Inside the app, the tools are part of one Premium plan, with a 3-day free trial.
How much does Premium cost?
Premium is $7.99/month or $49.99/year, which is about $4.17 a month and roughly 48% less than paying monthly. Both start with the 3-day free trial. The app shows your own store’s local price, which may differ by region. See pricing
Are there tiers or add-ons?
No. There is one plan, and every bird you keep is on it.
How does the free trial work?
Both billing options start with a 3-day free trial, once per Apple ID. If you do not cancel, it renews automatically on the plan you picked.
How do I cancel?
Open Settings › Apple ID › Subscriptions on your iPhone, choose ParrotSense, and cancel. To avoid the next charge, cancel at least 24 hours before the current period ends.
How do I restore a purchase on a new device?
On the paywall, tap “Restore Purchases.” Your subscription is tied to your Apple ID.
My bird has a diagnosed condition and I cannot afford this. What are my options?
The care program. Email your Support ID (it is in Settings) and a vet document showing the diagnosis to care@parrotsense.app, and we open every tracking tool for you at no charge. The analysis and the four food tools (diet guide with its mix check, safety checker, seed to pellets and fresh mix) stay with the paid plan. There is no means test. How the care program works
Privacy
Is my bird’s audio stored? Who hears my recordings?
The app asks your permission before it sends any audio. A recording you choose to analyze is shortened on your phone, then goes to our backend, which passes it to Google’s Gemini AI service with the context that sharpens the reading: your bird’s name, species, sex, life stage, weight, any other profile details you added, the situation and the body language. Your bird’s photo is not sent. The recording is not kept on our servers afterward and is not used to train AI models. Google may log requests for a limited time to detect misuse of its service. Your bird’s profile and your results stay on your device. Read the privacy policy
Can I use the health tools without the AI?
Yes. If you decline permission for the analysis, every health tool still works. You can change your answer in Settings.
Do you track me or show ads?
No. ParrotSense shows no ads, uses no advertising identifier, and does not track you across other apps or websites. Because we do not track, the app does not ask for App Tracking Transparency permission.
What do you do with a vet document I send to the care program?
We read it to confirm a diagnosis exists and apply the grant to your Support ID. We do not ask about your income. The privacy policy explains what we receive when you email us.
