A short time ago, Audubon Guides added a great update to their digital application for mobile devices. The update allows you to find birds with eBird. If you do not use eBird, you should start doing so today. I use this app on my iPod Touch and I feel that this new update is extremely useful, especially if you do not already have the BirdsEye application.
Now for the update. When you open up the app, you can choose to Find Birds with eBird. From there, you can select your location. When you choose a location, you can choose your current location or wherever you may be birding that day. I like to use this feature when I am dreaming of birding somewhere awesome such as south Florida, south Texas, or southeast Arizona. After you select your location, you can Find Birds Nearby, Locate a Bird, search for Notable and Rare birds, or Find a Hotspot with Observations. If I am planning a trip, I like to Find Birds Nearby, but also like using the Find a Hotspot with Observations. If there is a hotspot, then the folks over at eBird know that the location is a prime birding spot and it is usually worth checking out.
Once you select a location and use the Find Birds Nearby feature, then the application searches for recent birds that were submitted in eBird checklists. You use eBird, right? When the app is done searching for recent records, it brings up a list of birds that have been seen in the general area of the location you selected. You can then scroll through the list of birds and if you see a bird that you haven’t seen for the month, year, or in your life, you can select the bird and view the locations that it has been reported. When you are viewing the locations that the bird has been reported, you can tap on the location and view other species that were reported at the location and you can get directions to the location. To get directions, the mobile device will open up the map with directions in a different window or browser.
Here is the sequence that I just described. Click on the images to view larger versions.
Overall, this a great addition to the app and I feel that it makes the app more marketable. With the new features, you can combine multiple birding apps into one. Also, the app is very user friendly and takes no time at all to figure out. You will be finding sweet birds in a matter of minutes!
You can purchase this app for iPhone or iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Nook Color, or Kindle Fire.
