App about birds?

March 18, 2016 12:44 PM

Hi friends! I like birds but know nothing about them. Is there an app that has information about birds that I might see so I can identify them, and maybe keep track of the ones I see?

I'm not interested in like hardcore birdwatching or anything, just knowing things about birds! I own several field guide type things but obviously those aren't useful when I'm out and about. Is there a good app for casual bird info and maybe tracking?

posted by leesh to Pets & Animals (12 answers total)

Best answer: For identification, I have found that the Merlin Bird ID app is excellent. It's from Cornell University, and free. You enter information like color, size, and behavior and it attempts to ID your bird. It has additional information on the birds, like range and sound recordings. I don't know a good program for tracking your finds, though.
posted by Gneisskate at 12:53 PM on March 18, 2016 [12 favorites]

Best answer: I've used this one and it works ok.
posted by primethyme at 12:53 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: Seconding the Merlin.
posted by Skipjack at 12:59 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: There's the Peterson Guide app. Though, that may be too hardcore. And, it costs a few bucks.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:21 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: My wife used to use the Audubon one which includes bird song as well.
posted by yerfatma at 1:21 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: My personal favorite is the iBird suite of apps.
posted by Lycaon_pictus at 1:29 PM on March 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I use iBird and I like it - they have both drawings and photos, and sometimes the photos are clearer (or look more like the birds). They also allow you to search by color, shape, and likely habitat - so I can search for brown birds that are common in GA, and find the bird on my back porch! It also has bird song.
posted by needlegrrl at 1:45 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: For bird ID apps, I like Sibley's. The comparison feature is nice, to compare two similar species. You can also play bird calls/songs. Caveat: it's Expensive. $20. I justified it as another field guide that I would actually take with me.

Bird logging: eBird! It's free, although you have to create an account. eBird was created by Cornell University, the same people associated with the Merlin ID app mentioned up-thread. As a bonus, all the info you enter will be used by researchers (and the general public) to monitor bird populations.

Don't let the hard core bird nerd aura of eBird's main site throw you off. If you use it just as a logging tool, all you see in the app is logging tools. If you do get more into birds than you thought, there's lots of potential within the main, non-app, eBird site.

If you're into data, another bonus is that anyone can explore data maps of any geographic area...and learn about birding hot spots, bird populations over time, etc.
posted by Guess What at 1:54 PM on March 18, 2016 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I'm another iBird user!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:34 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: One word of warning about the Cornell/Merlin bird app (which is awesome). It takes up a decent amount of room on your phone.
posted by kuanes at 6:04 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: I use Merlin and it's quite good.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:28 PM on March 18, 2016

Best answer: iBird Pro is my favorite.
posted by scrubjay at 9:22 AM on March 19, 2016