Favorite Birding and Nature Apps

If you’ve attended one of my Tech Nature or Tech Birding Classes, you know I talk about a lot of apps. This isn’t a complete list of all the apps that bring up in class, but apps that I personally use on a regular basis. And remember, something I talked about six months ago may be different today. Apps update and change all the time…RIP, National Geographic Field Guide app :(

Merlin Bird ID

This free app from Cornell Lab of Ornithology will help you id bird photos, songs, or ask a series of questions if you don’t have a photo to help you identify birds. It’s free and fairly accurate.

eBird

This app helps you track what birds you see on your walk. It will even keep track of how far you walk and where you are. This is a great way to contribute to what we understand about bird distribution. I use this to find birds as well.

BirdsEye

This app helps you find what birds have been reported in your area. You can land in Vegas and find hot spot. Head to Biggest Week and learn if their are warblers around you’ve never seen. A birder's must!

iNaturalist

This amazing citizen science app will help you ID plants, bugs and animals. You can also join projects in your area to help report anything from pollinators to ash trees. Curious about a weird mushroom? This app will ID it for you.

iTrack Wildlife

Curious about some tracks in the mud you found? May there was a pile of scat that has you intrigued? This app will help you identify what’s been moving through your yard.

Peterson Mammals

You can search for animals by track, skull or group. This app goes from mice to mammals. Oddly, the Peterson website says it’s not available yet but it’s been out for a year for both Android and iPhone.

When it come to bird field guide apps there are a variety to choose from. Some well-known/beloved apps haven’t been able to keep up with software updates. Many ID apps share the same features: smart search, listing features, loads of bird calls and they take up a lot of room on your phone.

Sibley App

So a second edition if finally out! It had quite a few glitches the first weekend it came out but many of them appear to addressed and David Sibley told me they will make improvements as needed. It’s currently on sale for $9.99. I’m not sure when the price will go up. Get it now.

Audubon App

This is a great photographic field guide. You have to join the NatureShare community to use it. One of the cool search features is that you can look up a bird by the type of calls it gives. Did you hear a trill or a buzz? This app might help you ID birds by call.

Warbler Guide App

This app is dedicated to North American warblers and you can take a blank bird, color it in and they will attempt to ID it. They also have 3D models of birds that you can rotate around. But the app is worth the money strictly for the design editor fail that is the blackpoll warbler migration map.

Don’t see an app you remember from the class? You can always email me with questions.