BirdNET-Pi to Monitor Bird Calls
BirdNET-Pi Lesson
| Lesson number | Step by step instructions | Dropbox Video link | Teacher resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lesson 2a | #Learn how to build a Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi Beginner's Guide pdf | |
| Lesson 2b | #Installation Guide for BirdNET-Pi | Installation Guide BirdNET-Pi | |
| Lesson 2c | #BirdNET-Pi Software Installation | BirdNET-Pi Software Installation using SSH | |
| Lesson 2d | #BirdNET-Pi Finalising the Installation | BirdNET-Pi Finalising the Installation |
Installation Guide for BirdNET-Pi
- Download and install the Raspberry Pi Imaging software.
- The software is available from https://www.raspberrypi.com/software
- Insert a microSD card in the computer with the Raspberry Pi Imaging software.
- The size of the microSD card needs to be 16 GB.
- Open the Raspberry Pi Imager and click CHOOSE OS to select the operating system for BirdNET-Pi.
- Click Raspberry Pi OS (other) Other Raspberry Pi OS based images
- Scroll down the list and select "Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit)"
- Next, click "CHOOSE STORAGE" to select the SD card the BirdNET-Pi will use
- Choose the SD card onto which we will write the RaspiOS-Lite (64-bit) operating system
- Now, click the gear icon in the bottom right to open the "Advanced options" menu
- Answer Yes - to fill in WiFi details
- Set the hostname you would like this BirdNET-Pi to use to be reached.
- For example, to have multiple BirdNET-Pis on the same network, you might want to give them each a different hostname.
- In this example, the installation will be reachable at "http://birdnetpi1.local", since that is the hostname that is set during this step.
- You should also "Enable SSH" and select to "Use password authentication"
- When you scroll down, you will set the option to "Set username and password."
- This example creates a new user called pi.
- You will also configure the system's connection to your WiFi by entering the network's name (SSID) and the password used to connect to that WiFi.
- Adjust the locale settings for your Time zone and Keyboard layout.
- Save the settings
- Click "WRITE" to write the image to the SD card
- Select "YES" and enter to allow your host system (the computer you're on now) to write the SD card.
- Wait while the image is written to the card and the checksums verified
- You may need to give permission for your computer to make changes to the SD card.
- Enter your password (if requested) and click OK.
- The writing and verification process takes approx 5-10 minutes.
- When the SD card is ready, you'll be notified that is ok to remove it from your computer
- At this point, you will put the SD card into the Raspberry Pi and will allow it a few minutes to boot up.
- After a few minutes, you can move on to the next step.
BirdNET-Pi Software Installation
- At this point, you will put the SD card into the Raspberry Pi and will allow it a few minutes to boot up.
- After a few minutes, you can move on to the next step.
- Using a terminal emulator of your choosing (macOS and Linux users can use the terminals that come with the OS -- Windows users can use PowerShell or PuTTY).
- Use the username and hostname from step 8 to SSH into the Raspberry Pi.
- In this example, we created the birder user on the birdnetpi1.local host, so the command would be ssh pi@birdnetpi1.local
- When warned that you are connecting to a new machine, type yes to proceed
- You will be prompted for the password that you set for user pi
- After entering the password for your user, you will be able to begin the installation of the BirdNET-Pi software.
- Copy and paste the command below into the terminal and press "Enter"
- Note: Ctrl+Shift+V will often paste in Terminals -- in PuTTY, right-click to paste
- curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mcguirepr89/BirdNET-Pi/main/newinstaller.sh | bash
- The installatino process will take approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
- When the installation is finished, the system will automatically reboot. When it is booted back up,
you will be able to reach your BirdNET-Pi using the hostname you set in step 8. In this installation example, it is http://birdnetpi1.local. The default (if you did not set a specific hostname in step 8) will be http://birdnetpi.local. It can also be reached at the Pi's IP address.












