Developed by a bird photographer

Effortlessly Organize, Cull, Review, and your bird photography.

1.7+ Million Photos Analyzed

Free, Open-Source, and Local-First.
"I was able to cull 2/3 of my photos before I finished my coffee!"
"[Project Kestrel] has encouraged me to get out and bird more often."
"[Kestrel] has permanently changed my workflow, for the better."

— Real Kestrel Users

Organize your photos as a quality-sorted timeline.

Kestrel reads every frame: it groups your shots into scenes, ranks each scene from sharpest to blurriest, and identifies the species — turning a chaotic card of thousands into a clean, browsable timeline.

Learn about Kestrel's AI species search →

Cull away the blurry bulk in just a few clicks.

Kestrel's built-in culling tools let you set simple rules to clear out the blurry bulk. Adjust the sliders, review the rejects, and click “Done.”

Watch: automatically cull bird photos →
Drag to set your sharpness bar 0 keep · 0 reject
Blurry Sharp

Review your photos through your artistic vision.

Kestrel shows you a close-up of every bird in each frame. Since your photos are already sorted by sharpness, you can just focus on the pose, the light, and your artistic preference — then mark your favorites or open them straight in your photo editor.

Using Kestrel with common photo editors →

Your workflow

Kestrel fits into how you already work.

Choose the workflow that makes sense for you.

📷 Shoot
Kestrel analyzes
🔗 Groups scenes 🐦 Finds birds ⭐ Scores sharpness 🏷️ Tags species
📤 Export Ratings to Editor

Stars in Lightroom, Darktable & more

🗑️ Culling Assistant

Sorts by your quality rules

Accepts
🖼️ Import into Editor
Rejects
📁 Archive or Delete
🔍 Browse & pick

Choose your favorites

📤 Export Ratings to Editor

Just your selections

Download

Download Project Kestrel

Ready to give your bird photography wings? Windows and macOS users can download builds directly. Linux users can run from source on GitHub.

Photos are never deleted Runs locally. Photos never leave your machine. Free & open source