Birding Made Easy

Merlin is a free global bird guide app with photos, sounds, maps, and the ability to keep an online list of all the birds you see and hear. To identify a bird you observe, you can answer three basic questions about the bird’s size, color, and location. Merlin will then identify the bird or narrow down choices of possible birds based on your answers.

You can also record a bird’s song on the app, especially since you may hear a bird that you cannot see, and Merlin will identify the bird by giving you a picture and details about the bird. The sound recording feature is especially helpful since many birds often sing at one time, so the app can recognize multiple birds at one time and place.

You can also take a photo of a bird on your phone and submit it to the app for identification.

This free app created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is known for its accuracy.

To download the phone app, go to Google Play or Apple App Store and download Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab.

This phone bird app, created by the National Audubon Society, is like having access to the society’s large field guidebook of over 800 bird species but in the palm of your hand and for free.

You can record sightings for your bird list and can easily identify birds by choosing icons for size, color, type of body, wing shape, tail shape, habitat, voice, and activity.

Another strong feature is the encyclopedia of vivid photos of birds in their habitat along with detailed text descriptions of everything from their feeding behaviors to their nesting habits. All this information can be accessed on the app from anywhere whether you are out in nature or when you get back home and want to spend more time following up on your bird observations.

If you allow the app to have your location, it will also show you “sightings of that bird” near you.

To download the free Audubon Bird Guide app, go to www.audubon.org/apps. It is also available on Google Play or the Apple App Store.