Ibird Plus Guide To Birds App Reviews

I have learned so much while using this app! I have been able to attract birds in my yard and even had one of then land on my hand! This app is great and educational and I will be using it so much more!

Need to find out if it has apps for birds of other continents. (In English)

This is a great app. Doesn't completely replace a paper field guide, but I often don't bother bringing a paper guide on short trips now that I have this. And the songs are a huge bonus that paper books don't have, so this makes for an indispensable backup in that regard. The app keeps getting better, and the little tweaks in the pro upgrade are nice too. It still has a few little areas that need improvement though before it'll truly be a top notch app, but for better or for worse it's still the best available. It needs more illustrations of juvenile and alternate plumages (for example no juvenile or fall plumage illustrations for black-throated green warbler), although the photos fill in some of those gaps (but not all, like fall plumage black-throated green warbler). And there are some minor bugs in the illustrations (such as not showing the white outer tail feathers on the black-throated green warbler). And the search function has some gaping holes that make it hard to use effectively, especially in the habitat search option. For example, when searching for California mountain habitat, it returns the Dark-Rumped Petrel, a pelagic species, but doesn't show the Mountain Chickadee or the Clark's Nutcracker, two of the most common species in the sierras (this is unfortunately still true as of August 2017). Also, searching by smaller geographic areas or climate zones rather than states would be really helpful, such as a 'northern California' or a 'rocky mountains' category. These search tools have the potential to be fantastic once implemented better. For now, searching for a mountain bird is still faster in my paper book than in this app, which I'm hoping will soon change.

I've used this app for at least 3 years... presently I am on vacation watching new birds, and low and behold each time I look one up- it can only be found where exactly where I am!! Plus the behavior descriptions and other details confirm my identification! Love this!!

I’ve used this app for years and have liked it. Had lots of fun making bird calls with the kids. I haven’t used it in 6 months or so but was not happy to see some Of the new changes. Since when have I had to pay extra to use an app that I paid full price for already? Adding in app purchases after the fact to view birds around me is just lame and rather sneaky.

Setting in court yard & back yard placing birds sounds. Brings them in closer! Fun to watch them try to figure out where the call/sound is coming from. Great app for identifying birds, as well!

Very useful - i use it for identifying bird songs all the time. Indexing and search could be improved, but excellent nonetheless.

Indispensable app while birding.

It has been great to be able to identify the birds in our yard. The bird songs have been very helpful. I finally found the place where you can identify by color and that would nail it. I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I paid for the Plus and given that we are surrounded by birds, two great road runners have made their home here with us, most disappointed. Merlin ID is superior to this app and you can upload a photo of a bird you want to ID.

Purchase an app. Then vendor doesn’t support software upgrades. Instead just sells a new app, saying nothing lasts forever. New purchased app is only half as good as the originally purchased, but now obsolete app. But you don’t know that until after you buy. Just need to send them more money? Feels a little like a scam to me. Buy a book.... They never quit working.

Enjoy using this app. It’s very helpful. I especially enjoy the bird calls.

I really like this app. I wish however that I had spent time going over all of the options and versions. I find that the "birds around me" feature would be helpful for me as an neophyte birder but it is alas not included in the plus version. I would recommend the Ultimate Birder bundle which includes iBird Ultimate, iBird Hawaii and the iBird Journal all for the price of$19.99. (IBird Ultimate alone is $19.99 so the bundle is a quite a bargain.) It doesn't look like there is an upgrade path from the plus version to the ultimate version which is a shame. Be an informed buyer. There is a lite version of iBird which I would also recommend trying to see if iBird is for you. One of the differences between lite and plus is the number of bird songs, there are a lot more in the plus version. Also the plus version is over 1.3 gb which may be an issue with 16gb iPhone users.

I love this app. I have learned so much using it. I am completely new to birding. However, I lost my mind trying to identify a brown streaky bird that turned out to be a female redwing blackbird. The app doesn’t seem to take into account females that look nothing like their male counterparts. Yes you can see great pictures of the females if you know what the males look like, but a regular search will not turn them up. In desperation I used the app to look at every bird in my state that had brown on it. Yes, I was crazed. When that didn’t work I actually used another bird ID app(which was free) to ID the female redwing blackbird. Then I felt stupid because it was such a common bird and the male was coming to my feeder every day. Oh well, mystery solved. I still love the app and have identified many other birds.

I am a professional wildlife biologist and a lifetime birder. I use iBird Plus every day and find it powerful, reliable, and easy to use. The bird artwork, included photos, and supporting factual info are top notch. The sound clips are excellent and are frequently augmented. I have used iBird for more than five years and I have only one gripe with it — the “sort order” of bird names is very rigid and there is no cross-referencing. It would seem the developers could easily remedy this! For example: You should find screech owls listed among the other owls ... and not need to know that their official name is “northern screech owl” ... so that they appear only under “S” for screech not “O” for owl. Other than this, I give the app top honors.

I opened my copy recently, and I am so disappointed, I will probably remove it and look for another app. It was a joy to use for years. Now I can’t figure out how to do even a simple search for information about a bird. I will no longer be recommending it to anyone but my worst enemies.

Had this app for about 8 years now, the only app I have keep and use all the time

So far I have loved this app. Never had a problem and it is continually updating with my facts, sounds, and photos. Easy to identify birds in the field and at home.

Love having both photos and illustrations to help in identifying birds. Very useful app

This has become my go to birding app

I've always enjoyed sitting on my patio drinking my coffee, reading the paper. This ap has added a new dimension. I now have become an active bird watcher. Watching the birds coming to the feeder, I now am able to identify them. All the information available in this Ap not only helps identify them but gives you much more. It is basically an encyclopedia on birds. This ap is a must for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

I absolutely love this app and all the information it has!

I bought IBird Plus quite some time ago and paid more for it than any other app I owned then or now. As I recall, it was called “Plus” because it was the full-featured version. It was a remarkable app and I felt it was worth the expense. Now I’m told it’s the entry level version, is being discontinued, and that I will have to buy each of the separate functionalities and updates as in-ap purchases. I suppose I should have expected that. Hopefully some ambitious software developers will seize on this opportunity and provide a little healthy competition.

The app is ok for an intro to birding. The way they try to upsell on everything is annoying. The navigation isn’t very user friendly and doesn’t feel logical. The search engine is bad. But searching for birds in my state I was able to find and identify many birds at my feeder and the illustrations are awesome for that, better than real photos. The docket also shows the birds’ migration and living range, it shows real life photos and plays various chirp vocals. It has detailed info about the birds’ behaviors and personality. For these reasons the app is worth the $10 in my opinion. But it’s def missing that complete and polished feel.

Really useful in finding what birds are at your feeders!

Almost the best! Great sounds, ID, species info, etc... Sometimes searching is pointless. I'm not sure how to improve that option yet I wish it were easier. There are so many birds-that cannot be an easy task. I wish it had every North American bird. It's really great yet I find I still need a Sibleys now & then...

3 times now I have lost all my favorites when upgrading app! Bummer, otherwise very good overall!

Nice app but it's 1.6GB!!!!! Now they are adding owls of Mexico. Really? It's using up a ton of storage on my phone.

Take the time to read tutorials on different areas of app. As a beginning birder I find I use search criteria often because I don’t know what I am looking at when in field. I have been correct with searches 9 out of 10 times. I use this app all year long.

...somehow. Does all I need it to do (I am a self-taught beginner) and does it well. Highly recommended!

This app has been my primary field guide for many years now. It is updated and improved regularly with no software glitches. One of my favorite, and most used, apps, it is a great value.

Works well.

Best bird I’d app I’ve used.

This is the absolute best bird app on the market. Do not hesitate one second to purchase it. I have been using it since 2008. Better yet, gift it to a friend who loves birding, or is just getting started!

Well-designed, with great photos and sound clips

I have been using this app for a long time. It is so helpful while birding to show folks a photo of the bird they are looking at, its calls/songs, range and more.

I first wrote, “I can't believe anyone would rate this less than 5 stars.” Oops, yes I can. This latest upgrade keeps freezing up on me. Otherwise this sets a standard that all other electronic field guides should aspire to.

I use this app every time I’m in the field birding! Wonderful app that I just couldn’t do without!

App was a big disappointment in that it does not allow family sharing even though it is advertised to do so. All other apps that allow sharing between my iPhone and my husband’s IPhone work fine whether I share with him or vice-versa; but not this app. A real disappointment for us.

I’m a beginning border and this app is beyond helpful! Totally worth the price.

I’m not an auditory learner, so I use this a lot to ID birds singing that I can not see. And the variety of pictures per bird helps, since as soon as I get my binoculars up they turn their backs on me! Thanks!

I really like this app. My wife and I, since she broke her ankle, have been going to parks with waterfowl. This app not only helps us identify everybody in the pond, but calls them over with the sounds. Well, that and the wild bird seed we always bring. Just a fun app for people who want to learn about birds.

I am not a birder but enjoy knowing about what is around me. I have had about 7 years and use frequently. While in Patagonia with a group some of which I discovered were avid birdwatchers, I played the Baltimore Oriel sounds with the phone in pocket. They went nuts trying to find the bird.

Love to use the app with my granddaughter, as well as on my own.

I own several apps that are field guides. All of them are great. Each has features that are powerful. If I could buy only one, this would be the one.

Love this app! I especially love to use the sounds to call in birds who often answer me or fly an sit right above me.

Necessary to start my day...keeps the depravity of news away from me..the pictures and photos, the sounds of birds, plus info about them helps humans enjoy living with birds! App never fails, easy to use..grandaughter enjoys it very much! Better than a mere five stars!!

This app works great whenever I need to identify or confirm a bird. It’s very easy to use and has features to aid in quick identification.

Great app and recent refinements making it better. Particularly like Birds Around Me addition. Any user would do well to read instructions for use, and some time spent studying identifying characteristics of birds will greatly enhance enjoyment, and really help with searches. We are now enjoying 35+ species of birds at our feeders, with some annual variation, and brief transient visitors during spring and fall migrations. Have also id’d a few that don’t come to feeders. Great app for complex subject.

I no longer carry a hard copy field guide when I travel. I often use the bird calls with my ear buds to confirm my field identifications. I’m careful not to disturb birds on their territories. Every birder should have this app.