# Bird Song Id UK — Identify UK birds by songs > Offline bird song identification for UK species using automatic audio recognition. (iPhone/iPad app by Sunbird Images OHG.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bird-song-id-uk/id601362210 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Sunbird Images OHG](https://appshunter.io/developer/1772908503) - Category: Reference, Education - Price: $2.99 - Rating: 3.70/5 from 13 App Store ratings · 87 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 13.0 · 116 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2013-02-15 - Data updated: 2026-09-09 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bird-song-id-uk/id601362210/reviews.md ## What is Bird Song Id UK? The original and the best, accept no cheap imitations ! Record a bird singing and use Automatic Recognition to help identify it. Unlike all other apps, no internet or mobile connection is needed. • The Times Newspaper said the app "Does what it says on the tin" and were amazed that "this astonishing piece of software costs about the same as a cup of coffee". • "In direct comparison Bird Song Id showed better results than Chirpomatic". - naturschutz.ch - Swiss Birding Magazine Copied by a few, bettered by none, Bird Song Id is three years ahead of anyone else in this field ! • The Telegraph Newspaper said "Bird Song Id is a good walk improved, and may even put a spring in your step". • over 1000 good ratings Automatic Recognition takes place on the device, no connection to the internet or mobile network is needed. Automatic Recognition needs good quality recordings to work. See the HELP below, or follow the Developer Website link to find out how to improve your recordings. Automatic Recognition will help identify a good cross section of bird song in the British Isles, but you will need a good quality recording. Lots of blue and green peaks reaching to the top of the analysis graph is a good indication of a quality recording. Help and examples are included in the app to guide you. How successful is it ? Our aim is to get the correct bird in the top three of those listed. In our testing of over 1,000 samples we found the success rate to be 85%. Follow the Developer Website link to see a demo of Automatic Recognition on YouTube --------------- HELP ---------------- Automatic Recognition needs a good quality recording of the bird. ------------- Only record when a single bird is singing, or when a single bird is dominant ------------- The analysis graph should have plenty of blue and green colors with few or no black peaks. ------------- The peaks on the graph should reach all the way to the top. Low peaks indicate poor quality and recognition is unlikely. ------------- The Audio Quality, shown at the top of the results screen, should be at least Good, and preferably Very Good or Excellent ------------- The highest score should be above 70% to be useful. Below this and the system is telling you it is not sure what the song is. ------------- A difference between two birds of less than 10% is not that significant, so listen to the samples from both to help you further ------------- See the samples for how the analysis graph should look (to see the samples press the sample button at the top right of the help page) ------------- Make sure it is very quiet apart from the bird song which should be nice and loud ------------- Be as close to the bird as you can be without disturbing it ------------- Be patient, dont expect miracles, the system works but needs good clear recordings ------------- The microphone is at the bottom of an iPhone, point the bottom of the phone towards the bird ------------- Remove the case from your iPhone if you use one as this can dampen the microphone ------------- Record a single bird at a time ------------- Capture at least two singing episodes if you can. ------------- Record for the full 30 seconds ------------- Avoid windy conditions. Air moving over the microphone will mask the bird sounds ------------- Make sure there is plenty of life in the battery. Your device will reduce power going to the microphone as the battery runs down ------------- Playing songs to the app from recorded material on the internet, other apps or CDs is unlikely to work as this material is digitally processed and edited (inter phase gaps are often shortened). They sound very different to recording birds for real on an iPhone or iPad in the natural environment. Its a bit like putting rocket fuel in a lawn mower. ------------- ## Key features - Automatic bird song recognition - Offline functionality (no internet needed) - High accuracy rate (85% in testing) - Detailed recording quality guidance - In-app help and examples - Comparison to other birding apps ## What do users think of Bird Song Id UK? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 👍 Useful reference tool (when it works) - 💡 Educational for beginners - 💡 Great for learning bird songs - 💡 Can impress friends - 💡 Offline functionality (mentioned once) - 💡 UI improved (mentioned once) - 💡 Good for identifying known birds **Cons** - 😞 Poor bird identification accuracy - 😞 Limited bird database - 😞 Useless on iPhone (vocalisation ID) - 😞 Many British birds missing - 😞 Unreliable results - 😞 Frequent incorrect matches - 😞 Waste of money - 😞 Outdated information - 😞 Struggles with multiple bird songs - 😞 Difficult to get good audio samples - 😞 Not user-friendly - 😞 Slow processing - 😞 Incompatible with older iPhones - 😞 App crashes/recordings not saving (after update) - 😞 UI is terrible/bad - 😞 Frustrating quiz/no song info - 😞 Cannot listen to song without trial and error - 😞 Vague answers - 😞 Hopeless and frustrating - 😞 Doesn't work - 😞 Implausible suggestions (e.g., coastal birds in Surrey) - 😞 Always same list of birds - 😞 Needs to improve AI - 😞 Not fit for purpose - 😞 Very disappointed - 😞 Insufficient range of birds - 😞 Woeful bird recognition - 😞 Hit and miss (mostly miss) - 😞 Untrustworthy - 😞 Terrible UI - 😞 Not for US birds - 😞 Glitches - 😞 Limited geographical region - 😞 Not complete database - 😞 Not enough choices - 😞 Tricky to use - 😞 Never identifies bird correctly - 😞 Very poor - 😞 Doesn't work for simple calls - 😞 Awkward UI - 😞 Automatic recognition doesn't work - 😞 Regretting purchase - 😞 **Commonly reported bugs** - Recordings not saving after update - App crashes when opening recordings - Cannot work out how to search for a bird - UI is terrible - App crashes - Recordings not saving - Automatic recognition doesn't work - App is tricky to use - Losing the record button - Glitches - Incompatible with older iPhones - App crashes when trying to open recordings **Most requested features** - Expand bird database - Improve bird identification accuracy - Improve AI for bird song recognition - Add more British birds - Make it work better on iPhones for vocalisation ID - Update outdated information - Add dark mode - Improve UI - Add more bird identification tools - Include US birds - Add more native New Zealand birds - Fix update issues (recordings not saving, app crashing) - Make it easier to search for birds - Allow listening to songs without trial and error - Provide more information about song characteristics - Make it compatible with older iPhones - Improve geographical region limitations - Add more common birds (cardinal, oriole, song sparrow) - Fix glitches - Improve user-friendliness - Make it easier to get good audio samples - Allow saving recordings - Add more bird tools ## Recent user reviews (10 of 87) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bird-song-id-uk/id601362210/reviews.md ### 2/5 — Insuffienct *2023-06-01, version iOS-App 8.9* Doesn’t appear to have the range of British birds. ### 2/5 — Useless on an iPhone *2022-06-15, version iOS-App 8.9* If you were expecting to identify an unseen bird vocalising close by, on an iPhone, forget it! Time and time again it produces ridiculous matches. If you have a fair idea of what the bird is, it’s a useful reference tool, but there are better and cheaper alternatives. A waste of money. ### 2/5 — Less is not more, poor app. *2022-02-22, version iOS-App 8.9* Not enough bird calls on this app, many British Birds missing. Get a different app. ### 1/5 — Not fit for purpose *2021-09-06, version iOS-App 8.9* I think the birds would need to be trained to stand in front of a microphone in a professional recording studio and have a few training sessions to make it on to a short list of three possibilities. ### 1/5 — Very Poor *2021-05-29, version iOS-App 8.9* Very disappointed with this. Very rarely seems to identify birds correctly. I recently tried this app whilst very close to a Cuckoo which was very clear with no other bird song evident and got a ridiculous range of birds (the top match came up as a Wren ! Don’t bother with this app. ### 1/5 — Disappointed *2021-05-28, version iOS-App 8.9* Very limited number of birds and information way out of date, for example the distribution of the red kite. Likes to call all marshland song as Mallard when there were none in sight! ### 1/5 — Hopeless *2021-05-17, version iOS-App 8.9* Every recording I make returns the same list of results. The top hit every time is a ring necked parakeet. I live in the Wiltshire countryside. I can’t think of many birds that I’m less likely to see. Unless I’m doing something wrong I wouldn’t waste your money. ### 1/5 — Only once has this worked *2021-05-10, version iOS-App 8.9* I frequently stop to record a clear bird song and it has only once ID’d the bird. It normally comes up with a huge list of birds that sound nothing like the call I can hear. Needs to improve its artificial intelligence ### 1/5 — Poor *2021-04-15, version iOS-App 8.9* I’ve not been able to get a proper identification out of this app yet. It seems to like ring necked parakeets for some reason which makes this very unreliable. I’ve only been using it for a week or so and I will persevere with for a while longer and then assess it again. I’m not expecting much improvement though! Don’t waste you money on this one. ### 1/5 — Birdsong ID *2021-03-05, version iOS-App 8.9* It’s all very well updating this App, but I have IS12, and my IPhone 5 won’t stretch to 13, so I have lost the app I paid for. I am not happy! ## Frequently asked questions about Bird Song Id UK ### What does the Bird Song ID UK app do? The app allows you to record bird songs and then uses automatic recognition technology to help identify the species. It is designed to work offline, meaning no internet or mobile connection is required for the identification process. ### How accurate is the bird song identification? In testing with over 1,000 samples, the app achieved a success rate of 85% in identifying the correct bird within the top three listed results. The accuracy is highly dependent on the quality of the recording. ### Does the app require an internet connection? No, a key feature of this app is its offline functionality. Automatic recognition takes place entirely on the device, so you do not need an internet or mobile network connection to identify bird songs. ### How can I ensure a good quality recording for better identification? For optimal results, record only when a single bird is singing clearly, ensure the song is loud and the environment is quiet. Aim for recordings with plenty of blue and green peaks reaching the top of the analysis graph, and ensure the audio quality is rated as 'Good' or higher. ### What are the common use cases for this app? This app is ideal for birdwatchers, hikers, and nature lovers who encounter birds singing in the wild. It helps identify species encountered during walks or outdoor activities, enhancing the experience of observing wildlife. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### iOS-App 8.9 — 2020-06-03 Thanks for all the support over the years! We gave the app a new look added a few things but kept all the good features. Here is what's new and what we've done for you: - We added more songs and calls - improved automatic recognition! - new design, new icon - more bird images - see where other users have recorded birds in your region ### 8.8 — 2020-05-13 Thanks for all the support over the years! We gave the app a new look added a few things but kept all the good features. Here is what's new and what we've done for you: - improved automatic recognition! - new design, new icon - more bird images - see where other users have recorded birds in your region ### 8.05 — 2015-10-06 Improved recognition Works beautifully on all your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices ### 8.01 — 2014-10-10 Watch the film: https://vimeo.com/isoperla/birdsongid Works beautifully on all your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices ### 5.08 — 2014-06-20 Works beautifully on all your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. Improved Automatic Recognition. ## Apps similar to Bird Song Id UK | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab/id773457673) | 4.9 (111,272) | Free | Reference | | [Chirp! 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User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-09.*