Merlin Bird ID: Great Birding App

Normally in this blog I talk about the things I see around me in the natural world. Observation is a skill I'm always working at improving. One way to get better at recognizing what I see is through the use of field guides and 21st century tools, like apps. Cornell's Lab of Ornithology recently released the new app they've created for identifying birds. From their website:

"Information overload is the bane of the beginning bird watcher—as anyone knows who has ever flipped through 40 species of sparrows in a field guide. What if an app could quickly tell you which birds are most likely based on your location, date, and a brief description? Not just which birds theoretically could occur near you, but which birds are actually reported most often by other birders. That’s what Merlin Bird ID does. And it's free—because we want to make bird watching easier for everyone.

Merlin Bird ID covers 285 of the most common birds of North America (with more on the way). In addition to help with ID, it contains expert tips, more than 1,400 gorgeous photos, and sounds for each species. It’s available now for iPhone and other iOS7 devices, and it's coming soon for Android."

I downloaded the app to an iPad - it took awhile but the wait is worth it. You provide information about the size and color of the bird and in which habitat you saw it. Then a list of names with pictures comes up. Click on the bird you think you saw and learn more. There's information about the bird - where it lives, what it likes to eat, what it sounds like. I've downloaded several other bird apps (the free versions) and they usually give you a limited number of bird species as a way to get you to pay for the full version. But Merlin Bird ID is thorough and, in my opinion, very useful. Learn more about the app at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/  Check it out!