Here are the responses that I received to the question about bird call apps for iPhone.
Julian ================================= Is the person using it to learn call (Quiz) or call in birds? The trouble with asking for “an accurate” pitch is that birds have dialects just like we do and can sound different in different parts of the country. Personally, I like Larkwire for learning bird song because it uses many different recording to quiz you. For the field, I don’t know that it matters since I just use it there to remind myself of sounds. ================================= I'm accustomed to using iBird pro. has worked well for me, but wondering if there are other or better options. If you are looking for a learning tool, i think LarkWire is the route to go. I haven't had time to start on mine yet. ================================= I use iBird Pro, available at the app store I've used it a few times to attract a bird and it has been effective. It also contains a lot of info about each bird - 900+ ================================= You don't have to be tied to an app. You could download whatever songs you want to get and put them into iTunes and then on your phone. I guess my question is "why are you concerned about perfect pitch?" I'm sure you know that there is variability in bird songs. I'm not sure the birds care either. Anyway, www.xeno-canto.org has lots of bird songs (I'm sure you know about that one). You can easily download anything they have. I've done that with xeno-canto and other sources and have them on my iPod. You won't have additional info on the bird with this method but you can associate a photo of the bird with the song (via album art) so you will see the photo on you iPhone when you play the song. ================================= I am very happy with iBird. It has audio as well as drawings and photos of birds. Have had it for three years on my iPad and now on my smartphone, not iphone. Others like Sibley but it has no photos. ================================= I use IBird Pro and really like it. It has photos/songs and a brief description of the habitat you will most likely see the bird in. The only drawbacks to it are its not for the beginning birder. It's ideal for an advanced beginner to an intermediate birder, mostly because there is no raptor section nor a sparrow section, but indivdual birds, many of them and comprehensive field descriptions. If you know its warbler, you can try a common name for one, say Nashville Warbler, then choose the similar birds option and you'll be able to look at alot of warblers with gray and yellow colors. The audio is good.I was in a state park lot when I first got the app and played several of the birds I wanted to learn, mostly warblers. I inadvertently called in several nearby birds, as they landed in the tree next to my open car window! I don't recall how much it costs, i don't think it was expensive, but it's worth it. ================================= I would go with the Sibley app. Even tho it's somewhat expensive, I have found that it's quite user friendly and the songs and calls are built into the info on each species. And, the songs are from several US locations, so you get some different 'accents' too. I use an Android phone, tho I think this app is out for apple products also. I have also downloaded several others, some of which I've paid a little bit for, but I like the set up of the Sibley the best. All of them take some time to download and install, so tell your friend to do that at a time when he won't have to use the phone for a while. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
