Digital cameras, digital photo frames, eBook readers, it seems like the whole world is going digital these days. And now digital field guides are here. You can think of these as traditional field guides on steroids, yet even smaller.
You still get the regular stuff found in field guides: illustrations, range maps, basic identification and natural history information. But the format also allows for much more. You can play a bird’s song from within the field guide. Or access information that otherwise would have required cracking open another book or doing an internet search.
Probably the best thing about the medium is that it allows you to search for a bird in so many more ways. For instance, if you don’t know the name of a bird you want to look up, you don’t have to go looking through the accounts as you do in a printed guide. Just input some characteristics in the search function, and the guide will narrow down the possibilities for you.
There are now several digital field guides available to birders, mostly for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
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Audubon Birds
(iTunes) -
iBird Explorer
(iTunes) -
National Geographic’s Handheld Birds
(iTunes) -
Peterson iPhone Bird Field Guide
(iTunes) -
The Sibley eGuide to the Birds of North America
(iTunes)
Normally, I would create a table to compare their features, but the folks at iBird have already done it: Comparison Table of iPhone Bird Apps
Keep in mind that one of the competing companies produced this table. However, I have no reason to believe that anything was misrepresented, and everything looks correct and up-to-date as of right now.
So which one belongs on your iPhone? I’ve only had first hand experience with iBird (full version), Sibley (full), and Audubon (free version). But the app websites and reviews in iTunes have been very helpful in gauging their usefulness.
First off, I think the Peterson ones can be eliminated due to the lack of a single, comprehensive app. They have separate apps for backyard birds, raptors, and warblers. So unless you’re looking for something on just one of these groups, then you should look further.
The National Geographic app looks to be a pretty straightforward port of their field guide, with the addition of sounds, more textual information, and a basic search function. But it just doesn’t seem to have the navigation and search capabilities that you would want.
The Audubon app seems to have the same sort of information on each bird, except this one uses photographs for the illustrations. A search engine is included, allowing you to search for birds based on several characteristics. This is more promising.
iBird has the usual information for each bird (and quite a bit more), and goes beyond the other apps by utilizing both paintings and photographs. But you’ll really notice the difference in the search function – iBird has 33 different criteria that you can use to search on.
[Update: Sibley added on Feb 18, 2010] This is an excellent digital version of the Sibley Guide, which is my favorite North American field guide. It’s just about the perfect amalgamation of the “big” Sibley and the smaller regional guides. You get (just about) all of the illustrations from the former, along with the extensive text and updated maps of the latter. It also comes with an extensive collection of bird sounds and some rudimentary searching and filtering capabilities.
Based on what I’ve seen, I think it’s clear that iBird is the way to go. It has more species, illustrations per species (on average), information, and ways to find what you’re looking for.
Until Sibley was released, iBird was the clear frontrunner among bird apps. But now it’s a very close race. Here’s a brief comparison of important features:
- Illustrations – I much prefer Sibley’s paintings, and it illustrates a vastly greater selection of plumages for each species. However, iBird also includes some fantastic photos, and quick access to many more on Flickr.
- Sounds – Sibley includes a greater selection of sounds for each species. They both allow you to easily compare vocalizations. With Sibley, you can compare any two species, while iBird gives a selection of similar sounds for each bird.
- Information – iBird includes MUCH more information on life history, conservation, and other interesting facts. The text in Sibley deals almost exclusively with identification and voice. This information is also present in iBird, but the Sibley text does a better job at highlighting the most important field marks.
- User Interface – It’s no contest – iBird’s interface and navigation is vastly superior. It’s searching and filtering is also much more robust than the Sibley app. Sibley does have one unique feature, though, and it’s a good one. You can compare portraits, sounds, and range maps of any two species on the same screen.
- Lists – They both allow you to save notes for each species. Sibley allows you to see and interrogate your list easier. But honestly, I wouldn’t use either to keep a life list.
Basically, they both have something to offer in every category. Right now, I can’t universally recommend one over the other. Overall, I think more experienced birders will find the Sibley app more useful for identification, while those less experienced will best be served by iBird.
Ultimately, the best app will be the one that improves most upon its shortcomings. iBird needs to expand its collection of sounds and (especially) illustrate more variations in appearance. The Sibley app could greatly improve upon its searching/filtering and interface, as well as include some information beyond that found in the print guides.
But I wouldn’t wait too long to see which one that will be. I’ve found that having a digital field guide with me at all times has been incredibly handy and just plain (dare I say it) cool.
If you want a more in-depth look at these apps, here are some full reviews:
Reviews of More Birding Apps
- Birdcountr – an iPhone app that records bird sightings
December 15th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Thanks for this roundup, Grant. It’s great to see how many birdbook-like resources are out there for iphones. There’s also the BirdsEye app (full disclosure: the Cornell Lab contributed to it). It’s not really a field guide, though it has photos and bird-finding advice, but your readers might be interested in knowing about it if they haven’t heard of it already. It’s more of a bird finder – using eBird records to show the user maps of nearby bird sightings they might be interested in. More about it at our blog: http://birdsredesign.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/new-ebirdiphone-app-puts-local-knowledge-in-your-pocket/
Like I said, not exactly a field guide app, but worth knowing about. Thanks for the post! – Hugh
December 15th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Hey Hugh,
I’d seen the announcements for BirdsEye, and it seems like a great idea. As you said, it’s not really a field guide type app, so I didn’t include it here. But it definitely deserves a mention, as it’s something I imagine alot of birders would be interested in. Me included.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Thanks for this post. I just got an iPhone and I’ve been reading up on which birding apps to try / buy. I wish they all had trial versions (I could only find free versions of iBird Explorer and Audubon). Another app I found that’s not a guide but might be of interest to birders is the game BirdJam Twitch.
February 12th, 2010 at 9:36 am
I’m a birder, and I use the Peterson Field Guide to Backyard Birds for my iPod touch. I think that the chart you have doesn’t reflect the current version (2.0) of Peterson. The app definitely has search features (by name and family group), and I think the iTunes store rating is higher for this version than for the last one. Also, each bird does have multiple types of calls (in addition to the main song of each bird). I think, especially if you compare prices, the Peterson app is really great, especially for beginner birders. There are 180 birds which is more enough for most casual birders — and its really easy to make identifications with this interface. I just find it really easy to use, and fun. The quizzes help me learn bird songs and field marks. I guess for me it’s the Peterson images that really do it, since that is what I learned on. They’re still spectacular, and it’s great that I can carry them around in my small iPod. Overall, I think the Peterson app is the best value and easiest to use.
February 15th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I see a Sibley eGuide to the Birds of No. America. Released Feb 10 1010, V1,0. I would like to see comparisons/review. On user of iBird Pro likes it better at the iTunes Store.
February 15th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
There were a couple comments about the Sibley app on my iBird review. I hadn’t realized it had been released. I’ve requested a copy, so hopefully I can compare it to the others soon.
February 19th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Added the new Sibley app to the list, along with a comparison between it and iBird.
Also, check out the Comparison table from iBird again. They’ve also added the Sibley app.
February 21st, 2010 at 1:31 am
Thanks for the update to include Sibley app. The Comparison table is great and I think I will go with iBird. Sibley need to put a lite version of Sibley app to try like iBird did. Great job!
April 14th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
I am surprised you made no mention of BirdJam (www.birdjam.com). I am shopping for an iTouch and birding software. From their website, I gather Birdjam is not a full field guide like those your reviewed, but rather an application that focuses on bird song. I would be interested in any of your comments and experiences with this software.
April 15th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Birdjam’s iPhone app appears to be a game only called “birdJam Twitch”. And “birdJam Maker” appears to bird songs added you your iPod and using the built-in iTunes interface to present bird information, much like an a music albums and podcast.
This is from their web site: “*Via iTunes, Apple’s free music management system that you’ve installed on your Windows or Mac computer.”
The bird apps here are custom programs to work on the iPod Touch and iPod Phones. They all required much more (software programing skills and multimedia skills) to create.
I have been using iBird Pro now for a couple of months and have left my Sibley guide in the car. There has been a learning curve and so far OK. I still us the book for that occasional mystery bird. iBird has been a good reference to jog my memory.
One thing I would like in iBird is that it keep my place when switching APPs. Perhaps that can be addressed along with the upcoming iPhone 4.0 OS. I am using a GPS tracking software on the iPhone to record my position/time and later sync it with my photos and notes.
April 15th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Thanks for the info on the Birdjam apps, Allan. I don’t have any experience with them. Honestly, the Sibley app comes pre-loaded with just about as many sound files as birdJam (which uses the Stokes CDs). And iBird will be adding more sound files as well. So using one of those apps pretty much makes the iTunes based sounds obsolete. Or, it does for me anyway, since I haven’t found a good way to organize my bird sounds in iTunes yet.
As for other non-field guide apps, there is a Birdseye app that pulls/inputs data from eBird. Looks like it would be incredibly useful, especially when birding in unfamiliar areas.
April 15th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Not obsolete yet. My collection of bird vocalization in iTunes was recorded in So. California, Orange County, where I spend most of my time. Like our US English, there are many accents. I don’t recognize some songs that are in iBird. I do like the part (iBird) were people can contribute there photos of birds, it helps, I think the drawings in iBird could be better, I like the illustrations in the Sibley North America guide.
Thanks for the lead on “birdseye” app, I will take a look at it.
June 1st, 2010 at 1:15 pm
Is there a European version of Birdseye? Or does it work to report and see reports from Europe?
June 1st, 2010 at 8:11 pm
According to the BirdsEye website:
Currently BirdsEye only includes birds for the continental United States and Canada. We hope to add support for more regions in the future.
However, BirdsEye is based off of eBird which does not cover Europe. So there seems to be little chance that BirdsEye will include Europe anytime soon. There may be other apps that do, but I’m not aware of any offhand.
June 1st, 2010 at 9:10 pm
…although eBird just announced a beta version of eBird world will be out soon, so you never know. The news is here: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/global-ebird-underway-27-may-update Take care – Hugh
June 1st, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Wow! Well, it may indeed be sooner than I thought.
John, for now though, it still looks like you would need to look elsewhere.
June 4th, 2010 at 9:50 am
The Sibley iPod field guide app was just updated. As promised, it now has high resolution bird paintings that can be enlarged and displayed in both portrait and landscape views. The original ones were small and looked as if they were scanned from printed copies. They now really POP! The range maps now enlarge when tapped, but only display in portrait format. You can now move to the next image with just a swipe rather than pushing the “next” button, and switch between description and image by simply tapping.
Additional calls and songs have been added for a number of species, but there now appears to be a bug that I’m sure will be corrected soon– the updated song of the Sedge Wren does not display– the song icon erroneously links to the iPod song feature, at least it does in my iPod Touch. Not sure whether it affects updated sounds of other species.
Now, if Sibley could just add information about breeding biology and life history… I’d even spring a few more bucks for such an enhancement.
June 9th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
The “bug” in the updated version 1.5 that I mentioned in my June 4 post was corrected by simply deleting and re-installing the app. Now all the calls and songs appear to play correctly.
June 10th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
I found a bug in iBird Pro: American Robin>Call/Song>Similar Sounding>American Robin Voice, has no sound. When you go to other bird Rose-brested Grosbeak>Similar Sounding>American Robin Voice, it’s also empty. I have sent email to Mitch Waite Group but I don’t think they read their mail. I can try re-installing, but afraid of losing the APP in uninstalling.
June 10th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
@Ken: I had the same problem with all of the species whose songs were updated in 1.5. But the same fix worked for me too.
@Allan: Weird. My link from Robin to Grosbeak works, but not vice versa. I’ll forward your report on to Mitch.
June 12th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Re. the Robin Voice bug. I’ve uninstalled it on my iPhone and added back from iTunes and it did not fix the empty robin voice. I think I have the most current version of iBird Pro, in the More area it said “About iBird 2.3″ and did not see any updates for it.
August 9th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
iBird Pro 3.0 – seem this latest version has fixed fixed many of the bugs I wrote to them about.
August 16th, 2010 at 10:37 am
You may be interested in the app i wrote – My Bird Observations. Records bird sightings and loads to eBird.
August 25th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
As usual our American friends live in a bubble called the USA. Although these applications are very good it is not made clear until you delve into them that they are exclusively dealing with North American birds not the rest of the world. Why don’t they make this clear in the title of the software.
This is the WORLD WIDE web not the US web, so it would be useful for all of us if you made it clear that you are only dealing with a specific region of the world. Go on try it! Try to imagine a world beyond the Mexico and Canadian borders (let alone those large expanses of water with those scary places called continents).
August 25th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Peter, Welcome to our “bubble”. When I did my homework before my purchases, I did notice that all references were for North America at the developer sites.
I have birded on other continents and I find guides for those places before I go. So with the resources available on the web I was able to make my choice of guides for the “bubble” and the rest of the world. With the resources on the web, I was able to find local birders to bird with when I traveled.
Since I am exposed to technology developments here in the “bubble”, they tend to be geo-centric until developers/birders on other contents get into the technology. You can be that person?
August 25th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
I should note that the above-mentioned “My Bird Observations” is a listing program application that appears to be global in scope. It has filters for many different countries around the world. Understandably, as a new app under development, we can look forward to much more sophisticated filters and search tools, and I am confident that Gina is working to improve them. For Peter’s information, this app breaks the “bubble.”
I found it very easy to upload my sightings to eBird (via the free Box.net service) from my iPod Touch. If its interface could be filtered down to smaller locales (as we have in the eBird data entry page) it would be much easier to use in the field by simply updating the species and numbers along the way. It produces a file that meets eBird standards for importing data. (Forgive me, Peter, but I hope the first set of filters will be at the USA State level) It is cheap, and certainly worth a try. If you have questions, Gina is very responsive to inquiries.
August 25th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
I forgot to mention that Gina asked for suggestions as to how to filter the huge species (and family) data base. I’m sure she would welcome input from birders all over the world.
August 25th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
@Gina: I’d love to check it out. You’ve got mail
@Peter: It’s hard to avoid the “bubble” mentality sometimes. In my reviews, I try to make it clear what geographical area the book/app/etc covers, but I’m sure I don’t always do a good job of that.
On another note, I recently posted a review of Birdcountr, a listing app (for North America). I’ll be interested to see how “My Bird Observations” compares to it.