African White-capped Hocky Owl

January 21, 2018 12:02 AM

When A.I. gets into birding

The Neural Network Meets Its Match: Fish Biologists

previously

posted by the man of twists and turns (10 comments total)

"Segfish" sounds like great name for a memory debugger.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 12:15 AM on January 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

Or a hacking method, either would work.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:07 AM on January 21, 2018

This has been going around my Facebook lately. It's true fish names are weird and were possibly invented by drunken people, as most fisheries grad students can attest. And I think a pighead mullet might be a real fish tbh, but I am not a mulletologist so not 100% sure. But I'd believe it if I saw it in a white paper.
posted by fshgrl at 1:48 AM on January 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

Slaty White-throated Fairy-bellied Ground-Tyrant

This also showed up in the “Neural Nets Create Shakespearean Insults” post.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:43 AM on January 21, 2018 [17 favorites]

Even cranked up to the highest level, would I blink an eye if told it's an Australian species? Probably not.

This is why I need to go to Australia, drink all the wine, and look at all the bizarre colorful birdies.
posted by sacchan at 2:54 AM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

Janelle Shane's neural network stuff always makes me chuckle but this had me snorting with laughter. The illustrations are delightful, too.
posted by Lexica at 10:26 AM on January 21, 2018

Buttlebird

No, no, no! It's Tuttlebird!
posted by Splunge at 11:47 AM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

warn-winged Wood-banded-Black-breasted Stesing-Patein-fronted Crimsonwing

I'm imagining a cantankerous old prospector shouting this at the annoying bird that stole his lunch. ('Cause his mama raised him right, so he never cusses, not even at birds.)
posted by CrunchyFrog at 12:36 PM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Love it! Disappointed there was no illustration for the Fawn-bellied Flowerpecker, though.
posted by hydrophonic at 6:49 PM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Is this where we goggle at real fish names?
"aristocratic bunquelovely"
posted by away for regrooving at 1:45 AM on January 22, 2018