Apps for Birders

Bird watching is one of the most popular hobbies in the U.S. and spring offers plenty of opportunities to take part.

Whether beginner or experienced, our PC Mike Wendland says these apps can help you get out there and have fun doing what is also known as “birding.”

Song Sleuth helps you identify birds by their songs. You record and identify the songs of nearby birds through your smartphone’s microphone, similar to the way speech recognition software works, only tailored specific to the acoustical characteristics of bird songs. It also includes a bird reference guide. The app is $9.99 for iOS with an Android version on the way later in 2017.

The iBird Pro Guide to Birds app serves as an interactive field guide for every species of bird found in North America, Canada, Hawaii, all coasts and islands, and even extinct birds. You get quality full-sized color illustrations of birds along with range maps for every species. It also features lifetime updates. The app is $14.99 for iOS and Android.

And, of course, there’s the Audubon Bird Guide app, featuring detailed descriptions for nearly 800 birds, including more than 2,300 bird songs and 3,500 high-quality color photos. This app has a unique search function for identifying bird by song type or pattern, wing shape, time of year by state or province. The app is free for iOS and Android.