Catch a Bird
The most recommended of 5 novelty websites
A cheerful web experiment where you catch other people's comments as birds; people praise its uplifting, clever idea and beautiful design.
34 people recommended Catch a Bird in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
34 of the 34 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”.
Summary written by Claude from 26 comments.
40 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 34
- mixed feelings
- 3
- warn against or regret it
- 3
The record
Recommended in 1 of 12 months
In 1 different thread.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 34 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 11 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 1 threadNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- 34 of its 34 recommenders came from one threadNeeds half or less, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 26 of the 41 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Uplifting and makes people smile
“not only has your site made me smile, it's given me renewed optimism that technology can be used for good”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “Absolutely amazing idea. I love that the positivity is contagious.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “seeing everyone else's birds really lit something up inside of me”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” - Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
- Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
- Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
Inspiring, good-for-the-web idea
“It's one of those cool projects that exist in the internet altruistically to do good.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “This is a great idea and deserves more attention.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “This is really neat. I love this sort of project.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” - Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
- Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
- Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
Beautiful, clever concept
“This is lovely. And also quite clever in the mechanic - as well as being beautiful”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “What an incredibly beautiful project.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “Wonderful idea and execution.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” - Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
Unique site with good UI
“This is 100% one of my favourite websites of all time.”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “This is wonderful. Making this my homepage”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” “I really like the general site UI.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity” - Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Catch a Bird – I made it for my own sanity”
Other novelty websites people recommend
The four most recommended other novelty websites, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catch a BirdThis page | 34 | 3 | 3 | 92% | 1 | — | — |
| neal.fun | 13 | 1 | 5 | 72% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Zombo.com | 7 | 0 | 3 | 70% | 4 | — | — |
| Snow Simulation Toy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Human Fovea Detector | 5 | 2 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
26 of the 41 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This is 100% one of my favourite websites of all time.”
“not only has your site made me smile, it's given me renewed optimism that technology can be used for good”
“seeing everyone else's birds really lit something up inside of me”
“Neat experiment! I wish I'd read that my comment was going to be public before immediately typing”
“It's one of those cool projects that exist in the internet altruistically to do good.”
“I really loved the concept.”
“this is fantastic, I love the idea”
“Wonderful idea and execution.”
“on the bird view they just end up being a disappointing click”
“Absolutely amazing idea. I love that the positivity is contagious.”
“What an incredibly beautiful project.”
“This is such a cool idea.”
“I love that you made this, though. It's inspiring.”
“Very wholesome :) I like it”
“This is lovely. And also quite clever in the mechanic - as well as being beautiful”
“I really like the general site UI.”
“it's a beautiful reminder that the world is pretty awesome”
“it started telling me that I flagged too many birds for the day”
“Kind of ruined by all the spam ones that just say like “fs” “sd” etc”
“This is wonderful. Making this my homepage”
“this is a unique web experience”
“we need more sites like this these days”
“This is really neat. I love this sort of project.”
“Great idea, bookmarked. Thanks for building this.”
“This is a great idea and deserves more attention.”
“That's a really cool idea”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.