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Tech that helped me fall back in love with birdwatching
A few months ago a friend of mine mentioned on Twitter she was getting into birding. And I thought, "I used to love birdwatching when I was little!" I'd go out and wander around with my little Golden Nature Guide and record sightings of the avians that made my large backyard their home. I rarely saw any birds and when I did see them, I had no idea what they were. I was a terrible birdwatcher. But now that I want to get back into the hobby, I don't have to be, thanks to modern technology that makes it feel more like playing a really advanced game of Pokémon Go. Here are some of the tools I've found most useful while walking through parks and forests searching for feathered friends.
Twigle Birds: A free app for identifying birds by look and sound
Twigle Birds is a free app for birders. It claims to contain a complete field guide to birds in North America and Europe, and has photos and information built into the app so you don't need a data connection to use it. One particular function does require a data connection, and I'll get to that later. The app lets you search for birds by color, habitat, bird size and other appearance clues. You can also listen to example bird songs from each species. The photos are zoomable so you can see the bird images in more detail. A unique feature of Twigle Birds allows you to use your phone's microphone to capture a bird call and upload it to the web where remote software tries to identify the sound. It's a bit like SoundHound or Shazam but for bird calls instead of music. The database built into the app seems reasonably complete. The text and pictures are sourced from Wikipedia and each entry contains a link back to the Wikipedia website. I couldn't test the accuracy of the bird call identification as I live in a desert area and things were pretty quiet this morning when I went outside to test it. I expect identifying bird calls is pretty tricky, especially from a distance, so I wouldn't have high hopes. I did try the app with some recorded bird sounds I got off the web, and the app thought what it heard was one of nine possible birds. One of the birds was the correct one, but it couldn't get more specific. There are plenty of paid apps for birders, including the very complete Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (US$14.99). Twigle Birds is a nice app, with some good ideas. It uses your GPS location to help determine birds that might be near you, which helps the app narrow the list. Twigle Birds requires iOS 6 or later. It's not universal, and because of the amount of data that comes with the app it is a 518 MB download.
Five apps to help you identify birds and their beautiful songs
Spring means migration and the return of birds to many parts of North America. It also means warmer weather and sunny days that are perfect for birding. Here is a list of apps to help you get outside and start learning about our feathered friends (all prices are USD). Field Guide for birds [iOS Universal; $0.99 to $19.99] There are several big-name field guides that include photos and illustrations to help identification, bird calls, range data and other information about each bird species. Included in this list of guides are Audubon, Peterson, Sibley and the all-digital iBird. Audubon Birds is a digital version of the popular paperback field guide. It has excellent images of the birds, range maps and multiple calls and songs for each bird. It also includes NatureShare which allows you to find and share local bird sightings. The Audubon Birds app is on sale now for $3.99, down from $14.99. Peterson is another pocket guide to North American birds that has made its way to the digital platform. Peterson has a full version of its paperback guide that sells for $14.99. The company also recently introduced a Pocket edition of its traditional guide that features a lower price tag ($0.99) and a fewer details. Sibley, another paperback guide, is known for its great illustrations and these details look great on the iPad and iPhone. The Sibley eGuide also has a handy comparison tool and a bird song repeat feature so you can call out to other birds while you are in the field. The Sibley eGuide to North American birds costs $19.99. iBird offers a variety of guides to suit your pocketbook and your geographical location. If you want a guide that covers 938 North American and Hawaiian species, then you should check out the iBird Pro Guide to Birds, currently available for $19.99. This version also includes audio songs and calls, a search feature that lets you save frequently used searches and iCloud syncing for your notes and favorite birds. There is also a Plus version available for $14.99 that has fewer search filters than the Pro version. iBird has affordable versions ($6.99) for regions like the Midwest, West, South and North. iBirds also has a backyard birds version that'll get you birding from the comfort of your deck longer for $2.99. Larkwire Birdsong Series [iOS Universal; $14.99 or less] If you want to turn memorizing bird calls into a game, then you should check out the Larkwire Birdsong series. Similar to the bird guides, Larkwire has several universal iOS apps to meet the needs of a variety of birders. A Master Birder version is available for both land birds and water birds. The master land bird version includes 394 sounds that cover 343 land species, while the water bird version has 253 sounds from 135 species of water birds. Between these two guides, almost all the major North American land and water birds are covered. Larksong's regional guides, core guides and backyard guide will introduce you to bird calling on a smaller scale. There's even a basic guide that includes 20 essential bird songs for free. Chirp! Bird Song USA+ [iOS Universal; $2.99] Chirp! Bird Song USA+ is part bird song app, part reference app. It uses GPS to find bird calls that are common in your location. As your bird-calling skills improve, you can branch out to include all 263 bird song and calls in the app. Besides the audio recordings, the app has snippets about each call and quiz feature to test your knowledge. Cornell Lab Bird Q&A [iPhone; $2.99] The Cornell Lab Bird Q&A app is an educational app about birds. It features a question-and-answer format that cover cool facts about birds, bird feeding, migration and more. These frequently asked questions are answered by the experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Birdwatchers Diary [iPhone; $12.99] Birdwatcher's Diary is a journaling app that allows you to log your bird sightings while in the field. Each entry includes field notes, a time stamp, location information and more. When you are done, you can upload your birding lists to eBird or back them up to Dropbox.
