Terms of Service

About these terms

These Terms of Service cover the BirdChase app (listed as "BirdChase: Bird ID Game") and the website birdchase.app. "BirdChase", "we", "us" and "our" mean the team that makes and runs them. "You" means you, the person using them.

Our Privacy Policy explains what data we collect and how we use it. Please read it too.

Who can use BirdChase

You must be at least 13 years old to use BirdChase. If the minimum age to agree to the use of your data online (the "age of digital consent") is higher where you live, you must be at least that age.

If you're under 18, or under the age of adulthood where you live, please read these terms with a parent or guardian and make sure they're OK with you using BirdChase.

Your account

• Use an email address that's yours and that you can get to. We use it to sign you in and to help you if you forget your password.
• Keep your password safe, and don't share your account. You're responsible for what happens on it.
• If you add a username, don't choose one that's offensive or pretends to be someone else.
• If you think someone else has used your account, email us right away.

Fair play and acceptable use

BirdChase is about finding real birds outside. To keep it fun and fair for everyone, you agree not to:

• cheat, or use bots, scripts, modified versions of the app or other tools to earn catches, points, candy or badges;
• reverse engineer, decompile or tamper with the app or our servers to get around fair-play checks, limits or security;
• scrape or bulk-download data from the app or our servers;
• try to get into other players' accounts or data, or try to overload, attack or break our services;
• upload photos you didn't take or don't have the rights to use;
• upload anything illegal, or anything that invades someone else's privacy;
• use BirdChase to break the law.

The app has a built-in check that spots photos taken of a screen or a printed picture. Those catches are still logged, but they don't earn photo rewards or count toward mastery. Mastery also counts at most once an hour for each species.

If you break these rules, we may remove rewards you got unfairly, or suspend or close your account.

Your photos and content

You own your photos. We don't claim ownership of anything you take or upload.

So that the app can work, you give BirdChase permission to store, copy, resize, process and show your photos to you, only to run the app. This includes:

• saving your photos to your private album;
• checking whether a photo was taken of a screen or a printed picture;
• sending a photo to an AI service (Google's Gemini) to identify the bird, when Deep analysis is on and the app on your phone isn't sure, or when you ask for an AI check.

We don't use your photos for ads, and we don't sell them. This permission ends when you delete the photo or your account. Backup copies, if any, expire within 30 days. Pictures you shared yourself, for example in a chat app, are outside our control.

Make sure you have the right to upload every photo you add. You're responsible for your photos.

If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them to improve BirdChase without owing you anything for them.

Our content

The BirdChase app, Wren the mascot, the card designs and all game art belong to BirdChase. Bird photos on the cards come from photographers who shared them under open licenses, and each is credited in the app. Range maps are built from the eBird Observation Dataset, © Cornell Lab of Ornithology, under CC BY 4.0. See our Credits page for more.

We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable permission to use the app for your own, non-commercial fun. You're welcome to share the pictures the app makes for sharing, like your cards, catches and collection.

Points, candy and other game items

Points, candy, badges, streaks, mastery levels, avatars and other game items are part of the game. They:

• have no cash value and can't be exchanged for money;
• can't be sold, traded or transferred to anyone else;
• are a permission to use a game feature, not property you own.

We may adjust how game items work, for example to balance the game or to fix a mistake.

There are currently no real-money purchases in BirdChase. If we ever add any, we'll update these terms first.

Bird identification

BirdChase identifies birds on a best-effort basis, using AI on your phone and sometimes in the cloud. It can be wrong. Range maps, seasons and "How to find it" guides are general guides too, and birds don't always follow them.

Don't rely on BirdChase for safety, scientific or legal purposes. For example, don't use it to decide whether it's safe to approach or handle a bird, as a scientific record, or to answer questions about permits, protected species or the law.

Respect birds and the law

The birds come first. When you're out with BirdChase, please follow good birding ethics:

• Keep your distance. If a bird changes what it's doing because of you, you're too close. Never chase, flush or corner a bird to get a photo.
• Leave nests and young birds alone. Don't touch, move or crowd them.
• Don't lure birds. Use the bird-call recordings to learn, not to call birds in, especially in nesting season. Don't bait birds with food to get a shot.
• Don't trespass. Stay on paths, respect private property and closed areas, and ask permission before going on private land.
• Follow local rules. Obey the laws and rules of parks, refuges and protected areas.
• Stay safe. Watch where you're walking, pay attention to traffic, weather and terrain, and never use the app while driving.

You're responsible for your own safety and for following the law wherever you go birding.

The beta

BirdChase is in beta testing. That means some things may not work as expected, and we may change, add or remove features as we go. Thanks for helping us test. If something breaks, please tell us through Settings → Send Feedback.

If you join the beta through Google Play, Google's own terms for testing apps also apply.

BirdChase is provided "as is"

We work hard to make BirdChase great, but we can't promise it will always be available, free of bugs, or right about every bird, or that your data will never be lost. To the fullest extent the law allows, the app and website are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

Some places don't allow these exclusions, so some of them may not apply to you.

Limits on our liability

To the fullest extent the law allows:

• BirdChase won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits or goodwill, that come from your use of (or inability to use) BirdChase;
• our total liability to you for any claim about BirdChase is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us for BirdChase in the 12 months before the claim, or US$50.

Nothing in these terms limits any liability that can't be limited by law, or takes away rights you have as a consumer where you live.

Ending your use of BirdChase

You can stop at any time. You can also delete your account and its data whenever you like. See Delete your BirdChase account.

We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, if we have to by law, or to protect other players or our services. When we reasonably can, we'll tell you why.

We may also change or stop offering BirdChase, in whole or in part. If we shut it down, we'll try to let you know ahead of time.

The parts of these terms that by their nature should keep applying after your account ends (like "as is", the limits on liability and the fine print) will keep applying.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as BirdChase changes. When we do, we'll change the date at the top of this page. If a change is important, we'll also let you know in the app or by email. If you keep using BirdChase after a change, that means you accept the new terms. If you don't agree with them, please stop using BirdChase and delete your account.

The fine print

• These terms and our Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and BirdChase about the app and website.
• If any part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• If we don't enforce part of these terms right away, we can still enforce it later.
• You can't transfer your rights under these terms to anyone else.

Contact us

Questions about these terms? Email support@birdchase.app.

These terms are effective as of November 6, 2026.