Audubon Birds – A Field Guide to North American Birds

The Audubon Birds – A Field Guide to North American Birds App for iPhone, iPad or Droid is on sale now through Monday, September 5th for a mere $4.99 (regularly $14.99).  I just downloaded it yesterday and I really like it!  As you can see from the screen saves, it is loaded with great features.  Above you can see the front page of the app and to the right, its main menu.

You can see there is the standard “search” by common name or you can choose browse by shape, family or name if you don’t know what you are looking at.  But, you can also do an advanced search where you put in the “species likelihood by state (or province) and month.”  Then you choose all or some of the birds shape, colors, habitat, locomotion, region, size, song call pattern, song call type, or wing shape, each with its own dropdown sub-menu!  Wow, song call pattern?  How cool is that?

If you choose “browse by shape” you go to a sub-menu of 14 choices which will take you to a list of those particular species.  The “browse by family” gives you 75 choices which each take you to that family’s species list.

Once you identify your bird, that’s when the fun begins.  You will see beautiful photographs of your bird and its range map.  The descriptions of each bird include what the bird looks like, the sounds it makes, its habitat and range, as well as a discussion of the bird’s habits and behavior and its nesting habits.  I like that!  If you hit the “similar” tab, you are shown a list of similar species with their photos.

From the photo above, you can see that you are treated to several song and call recordings of each species as well as a description of their voice.

There are so many things that this guide does that, in my humble opinion, put it above all of the other iPhone apps I have tried.  You can add your own content, keep a life list and pinpoint your own sightings.  You can also take your own photos with your iPhone or Droid, if you have that version of the application.

If you go back to the top of this post and look at the first screen capture, you will see a button on the menu that says “All About Birds.”  This is a quick reference that brings up a menu including, About this Guide, How to Bird, How to Identify Birds, Plumage and Molt, Parts of a Bird (which includes a diagram), Classification of Birds, Bird Families, Natural History of Birds, Endangered and Threatened Birds, Bird Conservation and a Glossary.

I wanted to get this post out in time for everyone to pick up this app for that unbelievably low price of $4.99 so I haven’t even had time to peruse all of its great features yet, but, from what I’ve been able to see, I give this Audubon Birds – A Field Guide to North American Birds iPhone App a huge thumbs up!