Macworld 2010: We discuss iBird Pro with Mitch Waite

Not all bird songs are "challenges" as one reviewer claims. If that was true why do literally dozens of Goldfinches come to my feeder when I play their song? Use bird calls carefully but the idea they disturb birds is a myth promoted by a self appointed group who would like to keep us out of birding.

Great app. Really like the "shake" utility to hear a random song. Makes a great game with my granddaughter who hopefully will develop into a birder.

I agree with the other reviewers - iBird is a truly amazing app and one I recommend to all my birding friends. I see why MacWorld picked it as best reference app for the iPhone. But its so much more than "a good first attempt" and whoever wrote that is someone who is better at finding the negative than the positive. As a field guide to birds this extraordinary app reaches far ahead of the curve. I have the app and because its search engine taught me to think like a bird identifier I have now added 225 birds to my life list! Artwork? I love the drawings, the photos and the sounds. I just wish there was more of them.

As far as the misuse of the sounds are concerned I saw a disclaimer that told people to use the sounds carefully and follow the ethics of the ABA. Every bird app has sounds so I think singling out iBird is silly. I don't play the sounds all the time and I know I am not disturbing birds.

Download the free iBird 15 and see for yourself why TUAW did this interview. Keep it up TUWA!

I love this app! I live out in the country, have several feeders and maintain a bluebird trail. It's not uncommon for us to see a new bird in the yard, and this is invaluable for id'ing the bird and finding out more about its habits, nesting and food sources.

I'm not comfortable with using it to call birds in, but I do use the bird song features in the house to learn or help id birds that I've seen.... and to drive the kitties nuts.

This app is incredible. One of my favorites. I'm not a big birder or anything but love this. I have on several occasions been able to get birds to fly right up to me when you play their call using the app. Really quite something.

This is a good first attempt at creating a field guide for a device that almost tailor-made for multi-media field guides and should be applauded for being such. However, the illustrations are awkwardly drafted (the Mississippi Kite represented on the iTunes page for this app is a good example) and in some situations create a false expectations for clarity of field marks and overall shape & color of certain species. David Sibley is rumored to be working on an iPhone compatible guide, thus the removal of all Sibley materials from the eNature site. This would be a tremendous improvement as his illustrations are those of someone entirely familiar not only with ornithology but also the techniques & short-hand observation skills of field identification. Development of a photographic guide like the NWF Guide to Birds by Edward Brinkley would also be a marked improvement over this guide.

A secondary worry is the consequence of having bird songs included with the illustrations. While an invaluable teaching tool (most advanced birders use song more than sight to locate birds) for learning bird songs, misused as a way to attract birds by playing these songs during breeding season can be at best annoying to birds defending nesting territories and at worst destructive to populations by disrupting nesting birds and driving them from habitat by audio harassment. An owner of this app needs to understand their responsibilities for ecologically sound use.