The Best Birding Apps That Help You Identify Every Bird You See

Birding season has arrived, bringing with it many birds we have yet to identify. Birding apps are the solution, whether you’re hearing an unfamiliar bird call or seeing a species you haven’t identified before. They streamline the process of bird identification and offer a quick, easy way to learn through birdwatching. Some apps go even further, offering a virtual compendium for all your birding discoveries. From extensive bird call libraries to rare species locations, the perfect app is out there. As of 2025, these are the best birding apps for the season.

Contents

Merlin Bird ID Sibley Birds V2 Birda Picture Bird ChirpOMatic GoBird Audubon iBird Pro Guide to Birds BirdNET eBird

Merlin Bird ID

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Merlin Bird ID continues to be one of the best birding apps. It is popular with expert birders but is also beginner-friendly. The app is available for iOS and Android and is compatible with some Mac computers. It was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University and eBird, putting expert opinions at your fingertips. This app allows birders to request identification based on bird calls or to identify bird types with photos. It has an AI-powered response system, leaving little room for error. Merlin’s extensive bird library makes this app a great option regardless of where you live or travel.

Cost: Free
Rating: 4.9/5
Promising Review: “I was shocked at the number of birds around me that I’d never taken the time to see or hear. Thanks to Merlin, I can now identify at least 20 birds by their songs and calls alone, and I never knew how happy that would make me. More importantly, and totally unexpectedly, it helped me develop a daily mindfulness routine that was missing in my life before.” –Papaboy the Birder

Sibley Birds V2

The Sibley Birds app was overhauled in 2018 with all-new features for experienced and novice birders, and it’s available on iOS and Android. The library has more than 2,800 bird calls, and users can compare various species side by side. Experienced birders will also be pleased to know the app was updated to include more than 930 species. An in-app bird journal helps users keep track of all the birds they have seen, with the option to sort them taxonomically. The most notable feature, however, is the use of David Sibley’s artwork. These paintings depict each bird species with extraordinary detail, and it’s a favorite feature of most users.

Cost: $19.99
Rating: 4.9/5
Promising Review: “I love David Sibley’s books, and this app is perfect for making that work easily accessible. I don’t carry a Sibley guide with me everywhere, but I always have my phone. The app also has nice features like filtering by state and month, as well as bird song recordings. I honestly open this app every day just to browse through bird illustrations. I love it.” –Magriel lover

Birda

If you’re looking for a more hands-on approach to connecting with other birders, Birda is the app for you. It is available on iOS and Android and offers access to an expansive birding community. Birda is also an app you can feel good about using. Their mission is “to help people experience the natural world so they’ll fight to protect it,” with nature conservation as their main goal. Through this app, you can keep track of birds you see, share and identify them with the community, join challenges to win badges, and participate in the birding conservation effort.

Cost: Free
Rating: 4.7/5
Promising Review: “Birda has gently encouraged me, and with its design, it encourages others to be supportive, helpful, and kind. When I go bird-watching now, I’m able to completely switch off and immerse myself in nature, knowing that I can upload my session, share my photos, and enjoy hearing and seeing how others have got on. It’s beautifully and thoughtfully designed by good people.” –pdydhdrexgi

Picture Bird

Picture Bird offers a solid user experience with free and premium subscription options. The free version of the app, which is available for iOS and Android, leaves nothing to be desired. Sound recognition identifies birds by their calls, while photos can be matched with more than 10,000 bird species. The in-app camera also features an automatic edit that sharpens the image to help with identification. Another stand-out feature is the app’s guide for bird feeding. Users can input information about their bird feeding setup, and Picture Bird will suggest which species it might attract. This is a well-rounded birding app for backyard birders and experienced birdwatchers.

Cost: Free with in-app purchases
Rating: 4.7/5
Promising Review: “This is definitely my fave birdwatching app out there! There are so many options, even without the subscription, and it is easy to record bird calls and take pics! This app’s ID is almost always correct, and it offers lots of information about each of its many bird types. The bird expert AI option is very helpful and provides as much info as you need. Although this is a great app, some birds are missing pictures! Other than that, this is an awesome resource. Definitely recommend for all bird watchers!” –ratloveffgirl

ChirpOMatic

ChirpOMatic was recently featured in Apple’s “Celebrate Springtime” and “App of the Day” and is available on iOS and Android (Australia and Europe only). This simple app is very user-friendly, making it perfect for novice birdwatchers. It identifies birds by sound; all you need to do is hit the button and start recording. The app automatically pulls up the closest matches to the sound, which can be referenced with the original recording. A notable feature of this app is its “bird-safe” mode. When this mode is on, the volume of the app is automatically lowered so it doesn’t disturb nesting birds. Recordings can also be shared, making it a great app for birding groups.

Cost: Free for seven days, $14.99 yearly for exclusive features
Rating: 4.6/5
Promising Review: “We have a lot of birds in our yard, by design. We recently acquired a couple of new ones and weren’t sure what they were. This app is wonderful once you get to know it. I record the sounds and let it evaluate. It gives me several choices with recordings to choose from. If “that’s not it,” there’s an option for that, and we record again. I’m building a library in the app of my birds… pretty cool! And so much fun! A glass of wine on the porch and bird watching?! I swore I’d never!” –RGmom14

GoBird

GoBird is available for iOS and Android, and the app is geared toward all levels of birding. One key feature of this app is its birding hotspot map, which shows users where certain species have recently been sighted. In addition, the app shows rare species, which is an excellent feature for experienced birders looking for uncommon birds. A guide with more than 10,000 high-resolution photos helps birdwatching newcomers identify each species. This app is perfect for those who want to birdwatch locally and learn more about the species in their region.

Cost: Free
Rating: 4.4/5
Promising Review: “I loved this app. It uses GPS, reports the bird sightings around my area with the filter setting up to 100 miles, or time frame up to 30 days.” –birder in Ohio

Audubon

The Audubon app is an excellent birding tool created by the National Audubon Society. It’s available for iOS and Android and offers a guide with more than 800 North American bird species. This app uses Bird ID to identify a bird based on your observations, providing a curated list of possible matches. Audubon also provides access to a library of more than 3,000 photos and eight hours of bird calls. Another perk of this app is access to multi-season range maps, which help you track your favorite birds throughout the year.

Cost: Free
Rating: 4.3/5
Promising Review: “This app is easily my most used besides Safari. I love the explore feature; it’s given me so many tips on where to find great birding spots in my area (and great hiking too!). It also helps me know which birds to watch out for when traveling. After choosing a spot, I can study all of its recently seen birds and brush up on their calls in just one or two clicks. Plus, there are often three or more different sound samples for variety, and almost all common noises a species makes are included.” –Intermediate Birder

iBird Pro Guide to Birds

iBird Pro Guide to Birds is a user-friendly resource for anyone seeking a detailed guidebook. It’s available on iOS, Android, and is also compatible with Mac. It’s a good app for beginners, featuring 926 bird species and an easy-to-navigate search engine. Users can also search 10 hours of audio for unique bird calls and track species using the app’s migration map.

Cost: Free with an in-app subscription option
Rating: 4.2
Promising Review: “As an amateur bird watcher, I have received immense pleasure and value from it over the past many years. They keep adding more and more features at a tremendous rate, and it has all been useful.” –Kdfbee

BirdNET

For birders who prefer audio identification, BirdNET is the perfect app for both iOS and Android users. It’s the lovechild of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Chair of Media Informatics at Chemnitz University of Technology. Their efforts resulted in this research platform that uses advanced AI to identify birds based on user recordings. Currently, BirdNET has nearly 3,000 bird species programmed into its audio library.

Cost: Free
Rating: 4.1/5
Promising Review: “This app is amazing. As an experienced birder, I still puzzle over the trills of several species. The app provides virtually instant identification that has helped to reinforce (or correct!) my personal ID. And when I hear an unusual version of a song or only a partial song, it has been quite reliable. It’s also great that it records for later analysis if I’m out of cell range.” –yogibirder

eBird

eBird makes tracking and recording bird encounters incredibly easy. The app is available on iOS and Android, and features a simple user interface, making navigation a breeze. Customized birding suggestions based on your location and real-time feedback on bird sightings are standout features. The app’s GPS features make it easy to track your location and find birding hotspots, which is ideal for birders on the go.

Cost: Free
Rating: 3.8/5
Promising Review: “I faithfully use this app to create 99% of my birdwatching lists. I use the Voice Record app when there’s a bird I hear but don’t recognize. And I keep the Merlin Bird ID app as a ‘field guide’ on my phone. Where this app shines is the Explore tab! This feature keeps improving and becoming more helpful! I mostly use the Explore tab to search for hotspots in the vicinity I wish to visit. It’s become a very handy feature in the field!” –chickadee_246

The post The Best Birding Apps That Help You Identify Every Bird You See appeared first on A-Z Animals.

The Best Birding Apps That Help You Identify Every Bird You See

Merlin Bird ID

Sibley Birds V2

Birda

Picture Bird

ChirpOMatic

GoBird

Audubon

iBird Pro Guide to Birds

BirdNET

eBird

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Merlin Bird ID

Sibley Birds V2

Birda

Picture Bird

ChirpOMatic

GoBird

Audubon

iBird Pro Guide to Birds

BirdNET

eBird

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