Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Prey

5.0 stars

"Wow - cool birds of prey identification app"

October 3, 2009  |   By chomolari

Version: Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Prey 0.12

Pros

easy to make ID of raptors
great sounds with variety of calls
images have different views including overhead and silhouette
quizzes really helpful
sort by name or family
resides on the phone so there is internet connection needed

Cons

None really... maybe too many birds since nighthawks are included? But it's hard to complain about too many birds.

Summary

I have been using this app a lot since I got it and am very happy with it. I think hawk identification can be a little difficult, but this app makes it pretty simple. I saw a few hawks overhead the other day and could tell by their silhouette what family they were from (the family silhouette is in the app). But they were backlit and I couldn?t see many markings. When one of them called, then I just played the calls of several of the birds in that family (it?s easy to go between the different birds) and found the right match on the third try. I thought that was a simple ID.

The sounds are really good and there is a variety of calls for each bird which is a huge help. The bird images are the same ones as in my Peterson Field Guide, and it looks like the printed information and range maps are the same as in the book. One of the really great things is that the main bird image often has more than one view. There is the normal male, female, juvenile and morph, but there is also an overhead view of the bird flying and for some, perching and flying silhouettes. This is really useful because it seems they are always overhead and pictures with the markings aren?t always a big help.

I like the quizzes because they are sort of like flash cards. They are multiple choice and seem to be random so you get a different selection every time. You can choose between a quiz on just sounds or one with sounds and images.

I like having an app that has just raptors in it because it makes it pretty easy to go back and forth between birds and families and it is all easily accessible.

I have the Peterson Field Guide to birds book and like it, but this app is so much more portable. It?s downloaded onto my phone and is always in my pocket, so I don?t need to carry the book with me. It?s pretty reasonably priced (just a few dollars) and I think in the first few days I used it I got my money?s worth. It?s just uncomplicated to move around the app and it?s pretty idiot proof. I would recommend this app to anyone who wants to get better at birds of prey identification or who just wants a compact and inexpensive raptor identification tool. If you have an iPhone or Touch it?s a pretty cool thing to have around.

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