The Michael Morcombe eGuide to the Birds of Australia
Simply brilliant piece of software for my iphone. Graphically superior, excellent art and identification features, live bird calls a real bonus, easy to navigate and find and identify. Will get whatever bird guides are available as I continue to travel and bird watch. This is a whole new era in bird watching and identification.
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Wow!
I have bought other birding apps specific to Oz, but this is the only one I need. With pictures, audio clips of bid calls, maps, descriptions, it outshines any other birding app. I can also track sightings, which I didn't realize til I was exploring the app. But since I'm new to birding, I don't always know what I'm looking at - the smart search feature is what makes this app worth $30!!! It may seem a lot, but it's cheaper (and smaller) than his amazing book. Totally worth the money and perfect for newbies!
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A terrific tool for birdwatching in Oz
I just returned from two weeks in Australia. I had both the Michael Morecombe “e-Guide to Australian Birds” mentioned above, as well as a paperback version of the Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds (2d ed). (Where I live, I use iBird extensively, and have the National Geo e-guide which i only occasionally use.)
I found the e-guide to Australian Birds wonderful to use on my iPod Touch. The three main advantages compared to Slater are (1) the much lighter weight and smaller size, (2) the inclusion of song samples, and (3) the ability to filter the search results by region (e.g. Victoria, Southeast, etc)). I found myself generally leaving Slater in my car for reference if I needed it and only taking the e-guide with me into the field. I did not find the iPod Touch screen difficult to read in the field.
I jumped right into using the device, and did not read the intro or help sections until later. This worked, but in hindsight I do recommend reading the intro first — it took me a while to figure out that rotating the iPod to landscape gave a larger version of the picture, and rotating it back to portrait mode returned to the default view. Also, I did not fully appreciate the compare and smart search functions until towards the end of my trip.
I liked the “My List” function that let me track my sightings. The main feature I would like in the next revision is suggestions for similar-looking species. I saw and photographed a juvenile White-throated Gerygone that lacked most of the adults field marks, and I found myself thumbing through 1/2 the Slater Field Guide for an hour before someone else suggested this ID.
Overall, I would highly recommend this product for birders going to Oz, and hope the publishers do similar guides for other locations (hint: Costa Rica!)
I found the e-guide to Australian Birds wonderful to use on my iPod Touch. The three main advantages compared to Slater are (1) the much lighter weight and smaller size, (2) the inclusion of song samples, and (3) the ability to filter the search results by region (e.g. Victoria, Southeast, etc)). I found myself generally leaving Slater in my car for reference if I needed it and only taking the e-guide with me into the field. I did not find the iPod Touch screen difficult to read in the field.
I jumped right into using the device, and did not read the intro or help sections until later. This worked, but in hindsight I do recommend reading the intro first — it took me a while to figure out that rotating the iPod to landscape gave a larger version of the picture, and rotating it back to portrait mode returned to the default view. Also, I did not fully appreciate the compare and smart search functions until towards the end of my trip.
I liked the “My List” function that let me track my sightings. The main feature I would like in the next revision is suggestions for similar-looking species. I saw and photographed a juvenile White-throated Gerygone that lacked most of the adults field marks, and I found myself thumbing through 1/2 the Slater Field Guide for an hour before someone else suggested this ID.
Overall, I would highly recommend this product for birders going to Oz, and hope the publishers do similar guides for other locations (hint: Costa Rica!)
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Excellent Audio Visual Guide
Downloaded onto iPhone 3GS after a recent trip to Western Australia. Beautiful illustrations and a large selection of audio samples for each species. This APP is based on the authoritative Michael Morcombe Field Guide to Australian Birds with the advantage of portability, audio samples and other smart search functions that the book cannot provide. Highly recommended for anyone with a passion for Australian Ornithology.
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