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Article in App of the Week category.
Birda Helps Identify & Track Your Avians Friends
Here Birda, Birda, Birda! (Imagine I’m whistling too while I call this.) Ok, maybe you don’t need to actually yell out for this app but…
Here Birda, Birda, Birda! (Imagine I’m whistling too while I call this.) Ok, maybe you don’t need to actually yell out for this app but it is easy enough to search on the App Store for this relatively new companion app for bird watching.
Birda is a new app that has taken something that is very offline and made it very online. Rather than looking through an old book or just googling characteristics of birds you see, you can track is all with Birda. Birda has a modern, flat appearance with tons of custom graphics and helpful information — making it an easy recommendation.
There are other birding platforms out there but they all feel dated. I’m talking about eBird, Birdtrack, and Birdlasser to name a few. Birda allows you to easily export your data from these platforms and pull all your history and lists into this new app. You can track birds you see, where you go, and discover new places to check out.
It will recommend locations around you that are great for birding and anonymized lists from other uses can let you know what birds you may see there. As you go, you’ll unlock achievements for the birds you’ve spotted and you can participate in international challenges. All this time you can also be helping conservationists track endangered or under-studied species.
A lot of the app feels like Apple Maps, in part because the mapping is provided by Apple Maps. There are your typical iOS overlays that allow you to dive into different locations where you can see what to expect there. As you go out to bird spot, you can start recording your route and once done, it will show you on the map where you went and where exactly you spotted each type of bird.
Other features of Birda include a robust community that you can also chip in an help by answering questions, personal progress tracking, Share Sheet for sightings, and a personal photo library of birds you’ve recorded. You don’t need to spend a lot of time birding but just walking around a local park you may be curious at what birds you see zoom by. No matter if you count yourself a novice or hobbyist, Birda can help.
But enough about other people's apps.
