KATHERINE DAWSON





Passerine 

Backyard birding, made smart. 
Passerine is a smart bird-identification system designed to help people get started with caring for and learning about the birds in their backyard. Composed of a bird feeder and an ambient speaker-light, it identifies visiting birds and brings their color—and song—into the home, creating opportunities for passive discovery.

Duration10 Weeks
Winter 2025
ToolsRhino 8 
Keyshot
3D Printing
Individual
























What’s That Bird?


In today’s highly digitized world, many people spend most of their time indoors, growing increasingly disconnected from the natural rhythms just outside their windows. Birds are often the most visible and accessible form of local wildlife, yet many people struggle to identify or engage with them.

This project aims to offer an approachable way to learn bird identification from home, turning everyday bird visits into moments of curiosity, recognition, and connection.





















Persona

Meet Emily


Emily spends most of her day working on a computer and unwinds at home. While she enjoys the idea of nature, her busy, indoor lifestyle limits her opportunities to engage with it.













Wants01 To feel more connected to nature without leaving home
02 To learn to recognize common backyard birds
03 To incorporate small, calming moments of discovery into her daily routine

Frustrations01 She doesn’t know where to start with bird identification or feeder care
02 She finds existing birding apps insufficient or hard to approach
03 She often notices birds but can’t identify them in the moment. 








Design Criteria







01 The design should facilitate users’ learning to identify local birds.

02 The design should create a space of peacefulness, making the experience pleasing and easy to engage with to any extent the user chooses. 

03 The design should foster a lasting connection and interest in users surrounding birds. 


How might we provide a way for users to learn to identify birds through a meaningful connection to local species?





Ideation

Concept 1:

A feeder that hangs in the window of a home, providing a name-based identification based on camera input and displaying it above visiting birds. 

Concept 2:

A lamp/speaker combination, taking input from a feeder outdoors to bring the species indoors. It would display the colors of the bird as well as the bird's name for learning. This concept was chosen for further development.



Moodboard






















- Soft glow
- Matte plastics
- Warm tones


Design Refinement












Ideation explored a variety of forms for the feeder and lamp. 

For the lamp, a rotating "branch" base was added to a bird form to allow for a text display to show visiting birds' names.









Ultimately, a simple, one-sided feeder was chosen to streamline camera input. Additional considerations were made for food visibility and protective cover. 


Physical Model
Early mock-up in foam to test size and form. A little too big, but visually attractive.
First 3D print. A little too transparent. 
The final print, reprinted in a barely-translucent white to diffuse light evenly. 
The final print was lit with colored lights underneath to simulate the effect of internal LEDs. Future prototypes can hopefully utilize Arduino and seperate sections of light. 

Introducing

Passerine



















The System

Passerine's system consists of a wirelessly connected pair of devices; a birdfeeder and an ambient lamp-speaker. When a bird visits the feeder outside, the camera and microphone send a signal to the lamp inside, which lights up to display the bird's colors. A hidden LED screen illuminates to display the bird's name. Additionally, the built-in speaker fills the room with the corresponding bird song.



How it Works
When a bird visits the feeder outside, the central device will light up with that bird’s colors and play their song. 
The rotating base allows for display and viewing at any angle. 
When feeder maintenance is required, the central device will let the user know.  



























Hidden Display

The names of visiting birds as well as pertinent reminders for feeder care appear on the internal LED text display, hidden by a thin veneer when not in use. If the bird’s name is longer, the display will slowly scroll to the side. 


























Tweet Tweet!Hidden speakers bring the bird’s sounds from outside into to the home. When a bird visits the feeder, the speaker will automatically play their call for learning as well as an audible alert to their arrival.





















Internal Components



UI Design

View & Research Birds
From the accompanying app, users can review a personal history of sightings, explore species profiles, and learn more about behavior, habitat, and seasonal patterns. The app also allows users to upload their own photos of birds encountered elsewhere, extending the learning experience beyond the home feeder.





Animation