THE VIDEO SHELF · data storage in birds
I Saved a PNG Image To A Bird
Benn Jordan's video about storing a PNG image in a living bird, a starling that learns to reproduce encoded sounds. It mixes ornithology, audio engineering, and data encoding.
Why HN readers recommended it
HN fans point to it as a fun, nerdy crossover of bird song acoustics and technology, and the story itself got its own thread.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- Benn Jordan
- Topic
- data storage in birds
- Format
- explainer
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 2
- HN mentions in dataset
- 4
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2025–2026
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
I love Benn Jordan. If you liked this one, go check out the one where he stores a JPEG inside of a living bird. [VIDEO]
junon on Hacker News · 2025-12
In Have I been Flocked? – Check if your license plate is being watchedI'd easily believe that bird songs are vastly more complex and interesting than we currently understand! If you haven't seen it, you might enjoy Benn Jordan's video of "saving" a PNG to a bird: [VIDEO] (Besides the hook-y title, some interesting info on the acoustics …
nucleardog on Hacker News · 2026-03
In Humans 40k yrs ago developed a system of conventional signs
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.