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This iPhone app is truly for the birds

by Mel Martin Feb 9th 2009 at 12:45PM

Peterson's famous Field Guide to Backyard Birds [App Store link] has come to the iPhone/iPod touch, and in many ways it is a natural fit with the iPhone multimedia features. The field guide, which is a 92 MB download (!), contains hundreds of bird species, as well as the sounds of their calls, and of course illustrations and information about each bird.

I gave the app a try in my Arizona backyard. First, you enter the first two digits of your zip code, then you are provided a list of birds that should be local to your area. The quail that were sitting on my back wall were on the list, as well as the pesky road runner that peeks in the window every so often. I also learned that the roadrunner is part of the cuckoo family. Who knew?

The guide has some quizzes that can test your knowledge of our feathered friends, and tests to see if you can identify bird calls. You can also zoom in on the bird illustrations to see more details.

Some users have reported bugs and crashes of the app, but in my testing it was quite stable and I can't report any problems. The developer does have a note on the App Store web page saying a new version will be coming out soon with bug fixes and new features.

I think the app needs a search mode so you can type in the name of a desired bird. The information about each bird is pretty thin, and when the lists of local birds is displayed it doesn't seem to be in any order that I can fathom. I'd also like to see the program work in landscape mode.

Even with those criticisms, I found the app useful and informative. The app is $2.99US. Birders will also want to take a look at iBird Explorer Plus [App Store link]. It is pricey at $19.99US but it has a far more expansive catalog of birds, and does allow for searches.

Peterson Guide to Backyard Birds



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Peterson's famous Field Guide to Backyard Birds [App Store link] has come to the iPhone/iPod touch, and in many ways it is a natural fit...
 

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Vinnie

Fooey! If you can put a man on the moon, you can make an iPhone app correctly identify bird chirps! More dilithium crystals, Capt! We need more power!

February 10 2009 at 10:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Lizzie

Very useful review. I recently got the application and I have to say I agree that the Peterson series lends itself easily to becoming an iPhone app. The order the birds come in is taxonomic—this is the same way the Peterson field guide works. If you know a little bit about birds it helps to figure out the order. Like, hummingbirds are grouped together, corvids (crows and jays) are together and so on. Maybe it would be easier if the order were alphabetical or something, but it also helps you to learn how birds are related to each other. I use mine in Washington, DC and find it really helpful and fun. The app is designed for beginner birders, so it shows you how to attract birds and gives basic bird information. The cool thing is it goes hand-in-hand with the Peterson field guide. If I ever want more info I look up the bird in the Peterson book. The bird quizzes are my favorite part, and you can't beat that price. :-)

February 10 2009 at 8:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nature

Did this writer read the iTunes Customer reviews of the Peterson product before he did this article? Peterson: 28 reviews - 2-1/2 stars, iBird Explorer Plus: 52 reviews - 4 stars. I bought both products and the Peterson product is really a poor implementation of a field guide. iBird to me is what a iPhone apps is suppose to be. I feel bad for Roger Tory Peterson - his books have always been great but this problem does them a real disservice.

February 10 2009 at 5:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

I'd love to see an app like this for flowers and plants.

February 10 2009 at 11:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bob

I made my own 'Bird Watcher' web page. Check it out at: http://drrjv.com/birds.html

February 09 2009 at 9:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Marc J

Has the 101 ways to start a fight app been released by Apple yet?

February 09 2009 at 6:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dantronic

Stan Tekiela's "Birds of (your state) series is very good, it's a CD and (gasp) book combo. As an alternative to these apps mentioned. I'm just sayin!

February 09 2009 at 5:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
RHenley

And how does the reviewed app compare to this one:

iBird Explorer “West” $9.99

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=299569075&mt=8

http://www.ibirdexplorer.com/

February 09 2009 at 3:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to RHenley's comment
sporobolus

RHenly, my comments above go to your question; West is just a $10 regional version of iBird, more birds than the backyard version, but fewer than the full version; i live in the west, but i often watch birds when i travel, so i bought the full version


February 09 2009 at 4:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nature

According to the apps store iBird West has 711 birds while iBird Plus has 891. West is $10 and Plus is $20. So you get almost every bird of north America for half the price. Seems like a great deal to me.

February 10 2009 at 8:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
alansky

There another iPhone app called Bird Songs that includes about 100 high-quality bird song ecordings. It lacks some of the features of the Peterson guide, but it only costs $0.99.

February 09 2009 at 3:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
robseth

Do they anything by Edmund Welles, the well known Dutch author?

February 09 2009 at 2:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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