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Birding By Ear and testing
In preparation for an Audubon Society entrance exam for the Master Birder Program, I was making flash cards that I studied as I listened to McCauley Library calls. It was a clunky, time intensive way to memorize the 183 species in Western Washington. A fellow birder recommended Larkwire and as soon as I started using it, my learning capacity rose dramatically. It’s a fun, efficient way to learn.Show lessExperiencepnw
I’ve learned so much already!
I’ve only been playing this game for a short while but already there have been so many times that I’ve noticed a bird outside that I’ve heard in the app. For example, the time I saw a new (to me) bright orange bird at the very top of a tree on a walk in my neighborhood and since I didn’t have binoculars thought I wouldn’t be able to identify it... until it started singing and I realized it was a Bullock’s Oriole...a bird I missed every time on Larkwire... but when I saw it and heard it, I was immediately able to identify it!Show lessBriellla
Developer Response
What a great story ... and such a great bird! Thanks for sharing!Fantastic App but don’t use it outside
I purchased this app a couple of years ago but didn’t use its full functionality until this summer. I’ve progressed from a fledgling beginner to solid intermediate level. Along the way I’ve been able to identify the call and then find the birds a the National Wildlife refuge near my home. Word to the wise. I used the app one day while I was sitting outside. My husband observed that the tree near me became covered with birds. Best to use this app while inside.Show lessDebshopin
Developer Response
Thanks so much for the kind review, it's always great to hear when another earbirder is born! You are quite right about taking care when using Larkwire outside; most of the sounds are territorial/breeding songs and they can cause unnecessary consternation among other birds.Great
Though it’s a bit pricey no other app is as useful for learning bird songs as this one because of its quiz yourself style. Recordings are numerous and variable for most species and are loud and clear. I credit Larkwire by far more than any other source aside from field observations for my earbirding competence in North America.Show lessyooyyooy
Excellent!
I’ve only been using this app for a week and it has already greatly improved my birding by ear capability. Fun to use, very informative, and I especially like the written descriptions of the bird songs. This feature really helps me to retain the songs.Lily Secret
The Best Way to Learn Bird Songs
I was really struggling to distinguish bird songs in my yard, and just listening to the bird songs on other apps didn’t seem to help. Larkwire allows you to start with very simple quizzes and work your way up. Learning bird songs is hard, and requires daily practice, but Larkwire makes it fun. It is very customizable, so you can create collections of specific birds. The first thing I did was create a group of the most common birds in my yard, then another of the most common birds at my favorite birding site. It’s starting to pay off. I am starting to recognize some songs—Cardinals, Robins, Red-Wing Blackbirds, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellow Throat, and several others now come to me easily. It’s great when I’m outdoors and I hear a birdsong or call and identify it, and know that the time I put in playing with this app is making a difference.Show lessOhio paddler
Developer Response
Thank you so much for the great description, it sounds like you're making excellent progress! So great to hear ...Rewarding & frustrating in a positive way
Anyone that wants to learn bird vocalizations, this is a great tool. Keeps u tuned up for spring, trips etc. keeps u humble!!! Give it a try!AJ OBX
App might be a little too smart.
I love the concept. I’m still figuring out the sophisticated app, but it’s already upped my beginner/intermediate listening skills!
But, when I put together a playlist the app automatically sorts the birds by song types so I apparently can’t play a game of just wrens, for example, or a list created from my last bird outing. I want to play a game with all of my listed birds, regardless of song type. Or a put together a list by local habitat.
I’ve since discover the apps playlists based on a particular bird and I’m looking forward to that.Show lessruddy sherman
Developer Response
Thanks so much for the kind words! You can definitely study with any combination of species that you'd like. I suspect the confusion is that Larkwire maintains its comparison groups even when you have a custom playlist, but don't forget you can select any groups you want, and within groups you can deselect any species you don't want. If you get in touch at support@larkwire.com I'd be happy to help further! cheers ...Excellent for mastery
I took a field ornithology class as an eight-day Maymester. We were required to learn 93 different calls/songs and appearances in 8 days. Without this app, I would have been SOL on the audio ID. Great app for self quizzing/mastery.tortwigg
Great to start, now just frustrating
If you are interested in just learning bird songs as a whole this is an AMAZING app! I love quizzing myself, and have recommended this to others in the past.
Lately though I’ve just been super frustrated with their customized lists. I’m trying to brush up for field season where I collect breeding bird data and yet when I make a customized list of species that I know I will encounter, it only ever seems to quiz me on the same 8-10 species. Never any warblers, rarely what I need to work on, and no amount of adjusting playlists or settings seems to fix this. Considering the whole draw was the ability to tailor my study sessions I’m afraid I’ve been pretty let down, and for that reason only 3 stars.Show lessTessR92
Developer Response
Hi, thanks for the kind words and so sorry to hear that Larkwire isn't working right for you. I'd be more than happy to get you up and running; please get in touch: support@larkwire.com so that we can figure out what's going on. The most common reason that playlists don't work as expected is that species which are classified as "advanced" won't appear at earlier levels even when listed in a playlist.
