Here is a post I sent out earlier in the year:

I have a love for birds and for iPhone apps! So that means I have used most of the birding apps out there ... here are my thoughts for what it is worth: 1. Audubon Apps - I was the most excited when I saw these and the most disappointed after using them. There are free versions of all the Audubon apps that include a small sample set of each type, like 10 birds or 10 trees. I have only used the free versions. These seem much more artistic than diagnostic. Very pretty pictures of the trees for instance ... with no close ups of the leaves or the bark. Not very helpful to me. 2. Sibley Bird App - The content is exactly what you expected. Great transition of the Sibley book into an app. It has two bonus features that I LOVE ... first there are 3-5 song clips for each bird. This is very useful for playing in the field and trying to figure out what bird is calling. Also, you can select two birds to compare at one time. Especially in landscape mode this is really useful to compare tw
 o closel
y related birds visually. Sibley includes several illustrations for each bird, adults, immatures, male/females, he pretty much covers all the options. So being able to compare first year gulls against each other is cool. The illustrations are not "zoomable" but in landscape mode fill the screen so as not to even need to zoom. 3. National Geographic Handheld Birds - I think this app was ported over from the old Palm app that National Geographic used to sell as is ... it just feels old. This app also includes songs. I love the Nat Geo books because of the beautiful AND diagnostic artwork. The iPhone app seems to have very old artwork ... and is not very good quality. On my iPhone4 with the "Retina" display the illustrations are small and show pixilation and make you want to zoom in to see the bird. But the illustrations are not "zoomable". 4. iBird - There is a free version of this one but I use the "Pro" version. The first thing you see when you select a bird is an illustratio
 n. Which
 generally aren't diagnostic to the level that Sibley is ... i think the pictures are donated by artists who don't get paid for their use. There are generally a couple of illustrations covering several plumages ... but again not to the level of Sibley. The real value of the iBird app is the additional information and links it provides. Songs, pictures, link to Birdpedia (need web access), interesting facts, Ecology (the IUCN Red List ratings?), a zoomable illustration, link to Flickr for more photos!, and a list of similar birds. iBird also has a neat search feature ... You can put in data for one or all of these features; Location (common), Location (uncommon), Shape, Size, Habitat, Color Primary, Color Secondary, Backyard feeder, Family, Conservation Status, Observed State/Month, Song, Song Pattern, Body Length, Body Weight, Wing shape, Flight pattern, tail shape, wingspan, leg color, head pattern, breast pattern, belly pattern, back pattern, crown color, forehead color, ce
 re color
, throat color, nape color, eye color, bill shape, bill length, ear tufts, game bird and order. Sounds overwhelming? Here is an example ... put in Color Primary as Yellow and Observed State and Month as Ohio and April you get 6 matches: Common Yellowthroat, Prairie, Prothonotary, Yellow warblers and Yellow-breasted Chat and Yellow-throated vireo. Note ... all apps have range maps, and some way to record a life list. iBird has notes. (Side note about me ... I like photos better than illustrations for bird guides. That is just me ... I know this is a religious thing for some people ... that is just me. When I carried a "real" book I loved Kenn Kaufman's book for just that reason!) Here is what I do in the field now ... I go to Sibley first, for songs, and diagnostic illustrations. If there is still a question I go to iBird and look at the included pictures, then follow the Flickr link to more pictures. Warning about Flickr ... not everyone who puts names to pictures on Flickr i
 s always
 correct! Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions ... or know of one I missed! Side note ... I also use BirdsEye. BirdsEye connects to the Cornell eBird database and shows you recent sights of birds and helps you find good places to bird in an area. I just got it so I haven't traveled with it yet ... but I hope it will lead me to some good birds! You can't post eBird sightings through it yet though. Thanks! Matt

--
Matt Erickson
Sent with Sparrow (http://www.sparrowmailapp.com/?sig)


On Friday, October 7, 2011 at 6:17 AM, richard banish wrote:

> finally made the move to a smartphone.
>
> i couldn't find the posts from a while back
> when fellow birders talked about their likes
> and dislikes of various birding apps for smartphones.
>
> your opinions will be appreciated.
>
> buster
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