Bird identification has changed quite a bit since the times of John James Audubon. No longer do we need to shoot the birds out of the sky to get a good look at them. Nevertheless the questions of how you can tell what species a bird is are very similar. Birds still have the same parts! For decades people relied upon 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 has also written an exceptional bird identification guide with no pictures. With Alexander Wilson, John Bartram and John James Audubon a pictorial approach to bird identification was foreshadowed. With Roger Tory Peterson the pictorial identification process really blossomed. Since then we have seen Kaufmann and Stokes and Sibley and Zim produce some fine pictorial bird identification publications. But to keep pace with today’s technology to aid with bird identification, specialized applications are being used with Smartphones and hand held computers. 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.
photo credit: Birdfreak.com
There are several recent bird identification applications for iPhone and iPad and online. Are they the greatest? Are they all the exact same? Had been there any pioneer techie bird identification programs that people nevertheless use and like? That is what this article explores. Birders are discussing applications such as Peterson Guides, National Geographic Hand-Held Birds, BirdsEye, Chirp! Bird Songs USA Plus and Audubon Birds. The conventional Peterson Field Guidebooks for Bird identification have branched out into the field of technology for identification by way 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 for a nominal charge and not only get crystal sharp images of real birds to help with identification, but also their calls and songs are included. That is going well beyond what the paperback version can do. It has about 180 bird species which are commonplace in suburbs and urban areas. One recognized bird identification program covers all of the birds of North America in one application using the Peterson Field Guidebooks format for identification is called iBird. Functioning like like a search engine the iBird takes you through more than 1000 bird species with a minimal quantity of information you gathered in the field to assist you to 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 birding? Perhaps. It will be lighter in weight than the bird identification area guide you usually carry. But what if your battery dies through the trip? You will rely on your memory and your field notes when you have in the past. Plus you should keep in mind to use a strong and sure waterproof container or bag to protect your telephone or other gadget. Have fun birding now throughout the 21st century. What is the use of bird binoculars if you can’t use them in the field??
