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Parrot in Minecraft, shown for the Is It a Bird? advancement (Adventure tab)
Parrot in Minecraft, shown here for Is It a Bird? in the Adventure tab. Image: Ari flies with parrots.png from minecraft.wiki, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.
AdventureEasy
Is It a Bird? advancement icon in Minecraft, Spyglass in easy difficulty

Is It a Bird?

Look at a Parrot through a Spyglass

Requirements: Craft a spyglass from 1 amethyst shard and 2 copper ingots.

Is It a Bird? advancement icon in MinecraftAdvancement Made!Is It a Bird?

Overview

Is It a Bird? is a task advancement in the Adventure tab of Minecraft's advancement system, carrying the in-game description "Look at a Parrot through a Spyglass." It branches directly off Adventure, so that earlier advancement is its prerequisite and must be earned first. The Adventure tab covers advancements focused on exploration, combat, trading, and interacting with the world and its inhabitants. Is It a Bird? was added in Minecraft 1.17, from the Caves & Cliffs update, and is still in the 26.2 advancement set.

It is rated Easy difficulty on this site: can be completed quickly with minimal resources. Good for beginners. It uses the standard task frame, meaning it is a normal step in the tree rather than a goal or challenge milestone. One further advancement, Is It a Balloon?, is gated behind it.

In tree terms, Is It a Bird? sits first along its line: the full path from the Adventure root reads Adventure -> Is It a Bird?. That means 1 advancement must be completed before this one becomes available, and Is It a Bird? is one of 47 total advancements in the Adventure tab. It shares its parent with 17 sibling advancements (Voluntary Exile, Monster Hunter, What a Deal!, Sticky Situation, Ol' Betsy, Surge Protector, Crafting a New Look, Sweet Dreams, Caves & Cliffs, Sneak 100, Isn't It Scute?, Minecraft: Trial(s) Edition, Respecting the Remnants, Country Lode, Take Me Home, The Power of Books, Crafters Crafting Crafters, and Heart Transplanter), all of which open from the same point in the tree.

How to Complete Is It a Bird?

Earning Is It a Bird? comes down to the following, performed in order:

  1. Craft a spyglass from 1 amethyst shard and 2 copper ingots.
  2. Find a parrot in a jungle biome and look at it through the spyglass by right-clicking.

Tips & Fastest Route

  • Fastest route: Craft a spyglass (1 amethyst shard, 2 copper ingots) and zoom in on a parrot.
  • Parrots live in jungle biomes; tame or simply look at a wild one through the spyglass.
  • Make sure Adventure is already ticked off before you start, otherwise Is It a Bird? will not be tracked even if you perform the steps correctly.
  • This is one of the more approachable Adventure advancements, so it is a good early target while you build toward the harder entries deeper in the branch.

Common Mistakes

  • Remember that Is It a Bird? will not appear as available until Adventure is done, since the game only tracks an advancement once its parent has been unlocked.

Reward & What It Unlocks

Is It a Bird? grants no experience directly; its value is progression rather than a point payout.

Earning it unlocks Is It a Balloon?, which becomes the next step along this branch of the tree.

Details

Advancement ID
minecraft:adventure/spyglass_at_parrot
Icon Item
Spyglass
Category
Adventure
Difficulty
Easy
XP Reward
None
Version Added
1.17