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Terms of Use

The plain-English rules for using Birbs — what you can expect from us, and what we ask of you. A draft pending legal review.

Welcome to Birbs. These Terms of Service (the "Terms") are an agreement between you and [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] ("Birbs," "we," "us," or "our"), the operator of birbs.com and its related tools, newsletters, and community features (together, the "Service"). We have tried to write them in plain English, because that fits how we run everything else around here. Where the law requires specific terms, those still apply even if we have simplified the wording.

Please read these Terms carefully. By using the Service, you agree to them.

This is a working draft. The bracketed [PLACEHOLDERS] mark details only the business and its lawyer can finalize, and these Terms should be reviewed by qualified legal counsel before they are relied upon.

1. Accepting these Terms

By visiting birbs.com, signing up for the Daily Birb, creating an account, submitting a photo or correction, or otherwise using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated here by reference.

If you do not agree, please do not use the Service. If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you confirm you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

  • You must be at least [MINIMUM AGE, e.g. 13 / 16] years old to create an account or submit content. If you are under the age of majority in your location, you confirm a parent or guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf.
  • If you don't meet the minimum age, please browse with a parent or guardian and don't create an account or submit content.

2. Using the Service

Birbs is here to be read, used, learned from, and enjoyed. You are welcome to browse the encyclopedia, use the Identify-a-Bird tool, read our guides, keep a life list, take quizzes, and share what you find. In return, we ask that you use the Service fairly and lawfully.

  • Do use the Service for personal, non-commercial enjoyment and learning, and link to our pages freely — we love being shared.
  • Don't break the law, infringe anyone's rights, or use the Service to harass, threaten, defame, or harm others.
  • Don't scrape, bulk-download, crawl, or systematically harvest content, or attempt to rebuild our encyclopedia or datasets, except as expressly permitted by the licences described in Section 3 or with our written permission.
  • Don't upload malware, attempt to breach security, overload or disrupt our systems, or probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service without authorization.
  • Don't misrepresent who you are, impersonate another person, or submit content you know to be false (our honesty ethos cuts both ways).
  • Don't use our original content, or the selection and arrangement of the Service, to train machine-learning or AI models, or to build a competing product, without our written permission — except as the underlying open-data licences permit. This restriction applies to material Birbs owns or creates, not to the underlying open datasets (such as IOC, AVONET, and Wikimedia content), whose own licences govern any reuse of that data.

We may suspend or close accounts that abuse the Service, threaten its integrity, or repeatedly break these rules.

3. Our content, and the data behind it

The original writing, design, photography, illustrations, code, branding, and the selection and arrangement of everything on Birbs are owned by Birbs or our licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. Except where we say otherwise, you may not copy, republish, sell, or redistribute our content beyond what these Terms or applicable law allow.

Birbs is built honestly on real, open data, and we honor the licences that make that data available. Where third-party data and images appear on the Service, the rights and obligations of those sources travel with them:

  • Taxonomy and species data are derived from the IOC World Bird List (CC-BY) and related open sources.
  • Body-mass and ecological traits draw on AVONET / Tobias et al. 2022 (CC-BY).
  • Conservation status reflects the IUCN Red List.
  • Occurrence and observation data come from eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, used under their terms.
  • Photographs sourced from Wikimedia Commons are used under their respective Creative Commons or public-domain licences and are credited to their authors.

If you reuse any third-party data or images you find here, you must comply with that source's own licence — including attribution — not just these Terms. "Birbs" and our logos are our trademarks; please don't use them in a way that suggests endorsement without our permission.

4. Your submissions

Parts of Birbs are powered by bird people like you — photos you submit, corrections you flag, comments, quiz results, and other material you send us (your "Submissions"). This is the heart of the platform, and we want the arrangement to be fair and clear.

You keep ownership of your Submissions. We do not claim to own your photos, your words, or your work. What you give us is permission to use them so the Service can function and so your contribution can appear where it belongs.

  • Licence you grant us: By making a Submission, you grant Birbs a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt, edit (for length, clarity, formatting, or moderation), publish, display, and distribute your Submission on and in connection with the Service and our promotion of it — with credit to you where we display it, in the manner you indicate or as is reasonable.
  • Your promises: You confirm that your Submission is yours (or that you have all rights needed to grant this licence), that it doesn't infringe anyone's copyright, privacy, or other rights, and that it isn't unlawful, misleading, or harmful.
  • Editing and moderation: We may edit, decline, label, move, or remove any Submission at our discretion — for example to fix a typo, correct an error, meet our standards, or comply with the law. We are not obligated to publish or keep any Submission.
  • Corrections: Submitting a correction doesn't guarantee a change, but we read every one. When a correction improves the Service, we welcome it openly — that's the whole point.
  • Withdrawal: You can ask us to remove a Submission at [CONTACT EMAIL]. We will make reasonable efforts to do so, though copies may persist in backups, caches, or where others have already shared it, and the credit/licence terms survive for material already published.

No payment is owed for Submissions unless we've agreed otherwise in writing. Don't submit anything you're not comfortable seeing published with your name on it.

5. Educational, not professional, advice

Birbs is an educational and entertainment resource about birds. We work hard to be accurate and to ground our content in real data, but the Service is provided for general information only and is not professional advice.

In particular, our pet-care content, buying guides, and health-related information are not a substitute for a qualified avian veterinarian or other professional. Birds are living creatures and individual situations vary.

  • For the health, diet, housing, or wellbeing of a specific bird, consult a licensed avian veterinarian.
  • Our buying guides reflect honest opinion based on available information; they are not guarantees of a product's suitability, safety, or performance.
  • Identifications from the Identify-a-Bird tool and the encyclopedia are best-efforts based on data and may be incomplete or wrong — please verify anything important.

See our Health Disclaimer for the full statement on pet-care and health content. Where it applies, it forms part of these Terms.

6. Affiliate links and advertising

Birbs earns part of its keep through affiliate links (such as Amazon Associates) and through sponsored partnerships with brands we believe in. We disclose these clearly.

Our editorial independence is not for sale: affiliate relationships and sponsorships never change which products we recommend or what we say about them, and we don't accept pay-for-placement in editorial. If you buy through an affiliate link, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Our Affiliate Disclosure describes these practices in full and is incorporated into these Terms.

7. Third-party links and services

The Service contains links to third-party websites, retailers, data sources, and tools we don't control. We provide them for convenience and because they're useful — not as an endorsement of everything on them.

Once you leave Birbs, that third party's own terms and privacy practices govern your experience there. We are not responsible for the content, products, accuracy, or practices of any third-party site or service, and visiting them is at your own risk.

8. "As is" — no warranties

We genuinely care about getting things right, and we welcome corrections so we can keep improving. But to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free; that defects will be corrected; that information (including species data, identifications, traits, conservation status, or guides) will be complete, current, or accurate; or that the Service is free of harmful components. To the extent permitted by law, we disclaim the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

Some jurisdictions don't allow certain warranty exclusions, so some of the above may not apply to you.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Birbs and its owners, contributors, and suppliers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data, goodwill, or other intangible losses, arising out of or relating to your use of (or inability to use) the Service — including reliance on any content, identification, guide, or third-party link.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability for all claims relating to the Service is limited to [LIMITATION AMOUNT — e.g. the greater of the amount you paid us in the past 12 months, or USD $100].

Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limitations of liability, so some of the above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Where we have agreed to this, you agree to indemnify and hold Birbs harmless from claims arising out of your Submissions or your misuse of the Service, to the extent permitted by law — [PLACEHOLDER: confirm scope of indemnity with counsel].

10. Accounts and termination

If you create an account, you're responsible for keeping your login details secure and for activity under your account. Tell us promptly at [CONTACT EMAIL] if you suspect unauthorized use.

You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access — for any user — if you breach these Terms, if required by law, or if we discontinue all or part of the Service. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, your submission licence for already-published material, disclaimers, liability limits, and governing law) will survive.

11. Changes to the Service and to these Terms

Birbs is relaunching and evolving, so the Service will change over time — features may be added, altered, or removed.

We may also update these Terms. When we make material changes, we'll update the "last updated" date below and, where appropriate, give reasonable notice (for example via the site or the Daily Birb newsletter). Changes take effect when posted unless stated otherwise. Continuing to use the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

12. Governing law and disputes

These Terms, and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Service, are governed by the laws of [GOVERNING LAW JURISDICTION — e.g. State/Country], without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.

You agree that any dispute will be resolved exclusively in the courts located in [VENUE / JURISDICTION], and you consent to their jurisdiction — [PLACEHOLDER: confirm whether arbitration, class-action waiver, or consumer-protection carve-outs apply with counsel]. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.

Jurisdiction, venue, and dispute-resolution mechanics are legal specifics that must be set by the business and reviewed by counsel before publication.

13. Contact us

Questions about these Terms, or anything else? We read what comes in — including corrections to these very Terms.

Operator: [LEGAL ENTITY NAME]

Address: [BUSINESS ADDRESS]

Email: [CONTACT EMAIL]

You can also reach us through our contact page.

Last updated: [DATE].

Common questions

Do I keep ownership of the photos and corrections I submit?

Yes. You keep full ownership of your Submissions. You grant Birbs a non-exclusive licence to display, edit, and distribute them on and in connection with the Service, with credit to you where we publish them. You can ask us to remove a Submission at any time.

Can I reuse the species data and photos I find on Birbs?

Sometimes — but the original source's licence governs, not just our Terms. Our data comes from open sources like the IOC World Bird List, AVONET, the IUCN Red List, eBird, and Wikimedia Commons, each with its own terms (often Creative Commons, which requires attribution). Always check and follow the licence of the specific source before reusing anything.

Is the pet-care and buying-guide content professional advice?

No. Birbs is educational and grounded in real data, but it isn't a substitute for a qualified avian veterinarian. For anything affecting a specific bird's health, diet, or housing, consult a professional. See our Health Disclaimer for the full statement.

How does Birbs make money, and does it affect what you recommend?

Through clearly disclosed affiliate links and sponsored partnerships with brands we believe in. It never changes our recommendations, and we don't accept pay-for-placement in editorial. If you buy through an affiliate link, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full details are in our Affiliate Disclosure.

What happens if these Terms change?

We'll update the "last updated" date and, for material changes, give reasonable notice via the site or the Daily Birb. Continuing to use Birbs after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.