A repository of fun bird facts presented in a funny, and digestible way.
I built a program to send bird facts and a bird picture as a text message.
Make sure everything below is installed before running the python scripts, as they are dependent on all pieces.
Dependencies:
uvpython packagesearxngDocker container- Ollama
I use uv to run the python code in this repository. You can install uv with pip via:
pip install uvThe included python_pipeline.sh file runs the python scripts in order, and uv should take care of setting up the environment and package installation.
To search the web for bird facts, I used the searxng Docker container.
I included the compose build script in the repo for those who want to try out this project for themselves.
Once searxng is running, navigate to the newly made searxng folder, and modify the settings.yml file in the following way:
search:
formats:
- html
- json # add
server:
port: 8080 # add
bind_address: "0.0.0.0" # addThen restart the searxng container to be sure it has read the updates to the settings file.
Make sure that you have Ollama installed on your computer, or installed in a Docker image.
Make sure Ollama is running by typing in the terminal:
ollama --versionIf it is not (i.e., throws an error), you must run ollama serve in the terminal.
Download whichever LLMs you want to use with Ollama, via ollama pull [model-name].
My favorite models are:
- mistral-nemo
- tulu3
- granite3.1-dense
In order to use this feature, you need to have a Twilio account, and have bought and registered a phone number.
Download the version of Go that you want to use, and run go build go_src/bird_says_words.go in the project folder to create the program.
It expects a config.toml file to be located in the project folder that contains: 1) the API key for a Twilio account, and 2) the phone numbers you want to send bird facts to.
numbers = [
"+XXXXXXXXXX",
"+XXXXXXXXXX"
]
[twilio]
sid="SID"
auth="AUTH"I included the base bird_db.json file so that people who try using this project don't overwhelm the birdsoftheworld.org servers with image URL requests.
I have not double-checked the accuracy of the species facts this project generates. I do know that sometimes it mixes up the species it is talking about.