Who Else Wants The Best Bird ID App For Their Phone?

19.05.2010 | Author: Donna P. Bessken | Posted in Recreation and Leisure

The process of identifying birds has advanced significantly since the era of John James Audubon. For one thing, we can use technology to view our feathered friends and do not have to shoot them to get our hands on them for identification. Still the questions of how to tell what species a bird is are very similar. Birds still have the same parts!

For many years people relied upon direct hands on identification. Then there were some line sketches and very detailed descriptions. Peter Dunne has written descriptions of birds very similar to those sent out by the historic ornithologists and artists. He’s also written a distinctive bird identification guide with no pictures.

With Alexander Wilson, John Bartram and John James Audubon a pictorial approach to bird identification was established. With Roger Tory Peterson the pictorial identification process really blossomed. Since then we have seen Kaufmann and Stokes and Sibley and even Zim produce some fine pictorial bird identification publications.

Yet, in keeping with the technology of our times we see a host of applications. This has the effect of bringing online identification into the field with the naturalists and into the classrooms all over the world. Some of the popular ones are described for your consideration.

IBird, What Bird along with a new IPhone bird identification application are among the latest. Are they the best? Are they all the same? Were there any pioneer techie bird identification programs that individuals nevertheless use and like? That is what this article explores. Birders are discussing applications such as Audubon Birds, National Geographic Hand-Held Birds, BirdsEye, Peterson Guides and Chirp! Bird Songs USA Plus.

The familiar Peterson Field Guidebooks for Bird identification have branched out into the field of technology for identification by means of iPhone or iPad applications. Birder’s World magazine gave excellent ratings in October 2009. Many customer requests have been integrated into Peterson’s upgraded ID apps. The Backyard Birds version was discussed on NPR in January 2010 and in Audubon magazine in July 2009 in its first edition. It is easy to get this from iTunes with a quick download not only is it relatively cheap, you get super sharp bird images plus their sounds are included to help you identify the birds you see and hear. That is going well beyond what the paperback version can do. It has about 180 bird species that are commonly seen in suburbs and urban areas.

Then there is the iBird. This recognized bird identification program covers all of the birds of North America in one application using the Peterson Field Guidebooks format . The iBird operates a lot like a search engine for you by taking you through more than 1000 bird species with a minimal amount of information you gathered in the field to help you identify the bird you saw.

Yet the question still stands though, do you want to take your $300 techie gizmo out into the swamp to go bird watching? Possibly. It will be lighter in weight than the bird identification field guide you usually carry. But what if your battery goes down during the trip? You’ll rely on your memory and your area notes when you have throughout the past. Plus you should keep in mind to make use of a strong and sure waterproof container or bag to guard your telephone or other gadget. Have fun birding now throughout the 21st century.

Today when we think of birding guides often they are not limited to books and paper. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

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