# Collins Bird Guide — A field guide to Europe

> Digital field guide for identifying European bird species with illustrations, sounds, and data. (iPhone/iPad app by NatureGuides Ltd..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/collins-bird-guide/id868827305 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [NatureGuides Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/310574314)
- Category: Reference, Books
- Price: $14.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 28 App Store ratings · 131 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 1.2 GB
- Languages: American English, Dutch, German (Germany), Norwegian Bokmål, French (France), Swedish
- Released: 2014-08-14
- Data updated: 2026-08-30
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/collins-bird-guide/id868827305/reviews.md

## What is Collins Bird Guide?

‘It’s much more convenient than taking a big book with you...the Collins app is fantastic.’
– Chris Packham, Metro

‘The Collins Bird Guide app is destined to become a real triumph, the ultimate in field guide apps — and deservedly so.’
– BirdGuides

The Collins Bird Guide App combines world-class illustrations and comprehensive information with intuitive design to create the ultimate field guide for passionate birders and casual birdwatchers alike. The app is based on the landmark book by Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström, universally acknowledged as the standard European field guide. This definitive work has been reimagined for iPad and iPhone by birders for birders.

The Collins Bird Guide App provides everything you need to identify a species quickly and learn about it thoroughly. Immerse yourself in the exceptional illustrations, maps, calls and concise text. Use the powerful search filter and curated confusion lists to focus in on a species. The Collins Bird Guide App is an essential companion always to hand on your iPhone, and available to browse in full glory on your iPad.

Features include:

‣ 973 species covered - 843 illustrated
‣ 3,700+ beautiful illustrations by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström
‣ Detailed text covering habitat, range, identification and voice by Lars Svensson
‣ Record sightings, location and date with the listing tool
‣ Powerful search filter
‣ Intuitive design to quickly and easily swipe through species
‣ Curated lists of confusable species
‣ Over 1,100 carefully selected songs and calls – many by Lars Svensson
‣ Select species names from 30+ languages
‣ Expertly edited video clips for 811 species in the app (require in-app purchase)
‣ Available in English, Swedish, Norwegian, French and German
‣ Weighs nothing!

Identify Assist is our brand-new subscription service. Instantly identify species from photos and recordings with cutting-edge AI.

As well as this and the optional video library, the app incorporates British Trust for Ornithology/BirdWatch Ireland/Scottish Ornithologists' Club Bird Atlas 2007–11 mapping data as an in-app purchase, providing the most comprehensive location mapping of any bird guide app.

The latest version of the app requires iOS 17.0 or later.

If you like the app, don’t forget to share the app, rate it and leave a review.

Privacy Policy
natureguides.com/privacy-policy

Terms of Use
apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

## Key features

- 973 species covered
- 3,700+ illustrations
- Detailed species text
- Record sightings
- Powerful search filter
- Confusable species lists
- 1,100+ songs and calls

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $14.99.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Identify Assist - monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| Identify Assist - yearly | $17.99 | per year |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Video Library Volume 1 | $4.99 | one-time |
| Video Library Volume 2 | $4.99 | one-time |
| BTO Atlas Maps Pack | $1.99 | one-time |
| Video Library Volume 3 | $4.99 | one-time |
| DDA Maps | $1.99 | one-time |
| Third edition | $1.99 | one-time |
| EBBA2 Breeding Maps | $4.99 | one-time |
| Video Library | $9.99 | one-time |


## Chart rankings

- #57 in Top Paid · Reference (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 131)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/collins-bird-guide/id868827305/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Indispensable

*2026-08-07*

Nouvel abonné, je prends la mesure de la puissance et de la perfection de cette application. Incontournable, ergonomique, précise et très pratique. Pour tous les amoureux de nos amis les oiseaux, foncez. Pour une quarantaine d’euros, vous aurez l’application, les cartes supplémentaires et l’identification à partir d’enregistrements audios ou de photos. Sans parler de la bibliothèque de vidéos…
Un immense merci à cette formidable équipe qui nous permet de mieux connaître nos compagnons ailés !

### 5/5 — Tolle und praktisch App

*2026-06-23*

Finde die App gut und nutze sie ausgiebig. Hilfreich wären noch Infos, was die einzelnen Arten essen. Aber eine App kann nie perfekt sein. Praktisch finde ich, dass man die Artnamen in unterschiedlichen Sprachen aktivieren kann. Hilfreich im Ausland. Noch hilfreicher wäre da die Möglichkeit den lateinischen Namen, und die Namen in anderer Sprache kopieren zu können. Um unkompliziert in Foren oder im Internet nach Informationen zu suchen. Z.B. auf Xeno

### 4/5 — Eigentlich gut

*2026-05-15*

Einen Kritikpunkt habe ich. Die Stimmerkennung ist wirklich unterirdisch. Ich kriege in Norddeutschland ständig Vögel angezeigt die es hier absolut nicht geben kann. Von Zitronenstelze über Wachtel bis hin zum buschrohrsänger. Auch noch andere Arten sind dabei die es hier nun wirklich nicht gibt. Für solch einen Mist soll ich dann auch noch Abo bezahlen. Sorry das geht gar nicht.

### 4/5 — Ein großartige lehrreich App mit drei pejorativen Vogelnamen

*2026-04-05*

Ich finde es ist eine super schöne App von der ich sehr viel gelernt habe. Ich finde nur das pejorative beziehungsweise rassistische Vogelnamen in einer App mit wissenschaftlichem Anspruch nichts zu suchen haben! Bei Fulica americana, bei Ixobrychus exilis und bei Saxicola caprata sind die Trivialnamen definitiv rassistisch auch wenn es sicherlich nicht böse gemeint ist. Hoffentlich ändert ihr das zukünftig und bleibt progressiv. Dankeschön für eure wertvolle Vogelapp!

### 3/5 — A Few Things

*2026-03-23, version 3.2.3*

I really want to love this app, but it has a few small annoyances.  I have the Book (2 Edn), but wanted a more portable version.  The legend for the Distribution Maps is too small for me WITH my reading glasses on - I needed to refer to the book.  For some reason the app lacks the abundance information of the book - everything else is included as far as I can tell.  Finally, I purchased the UK specific distribution as an IAP, but have no idea what they mean - there is no guidance or legend.

### 1/5 — Latest update causing crashes

*2025-11-18, version 3.2.2*

Your latest update has caused this app to fail to open on my device. Please fix it.

### 4/5 — Identify Assist update

*2025-08-20, version 3.1*

Thank you for your response App Developer. In following your advice I found and fixed the problem I described below. I’d subscribed on my iPad Mini 5 and via iCloud it also downloaded onto my iPhone SE2. However only Photo ID downloaded NOT Audio ID. It was the iPhone I was trialling it on so that’s why it didn’t work. Yesterday I tried it on fledgling Goldfinch calls with some background House Sparrow calls and the Audio ID worked correctly (as did the free Merlin app).

The advantage of using this app is that mobile data doesn’t need to be on which is useful when there is no signal (which there often isn’t in many rural locations). On the other hand Merlin is free. I’ll keep trialling Audio ID on this app for the remainder of the year I’ve already paid for and have upgraded my review to a cautious 4 stars. It would have been 3 stars but the extra one is for the helpful Developer response to my initial review in the next paragraph. Thank you Collins Bird App!

I love this app and have used it successfully over many years, so this review is specifically about the subscription service Identify Assist and specifically the identification of bird sounds in the field. It simply doesn’t work. I tried it with known calls and it failed, whereas the free Merlin app correctly identified them instantly. The tests were on Meadow Pipit and Chiffchaff calls (NOT songs). Sorry Collins but I cannot recommend this feature and have cancelled my subscription (unfortunately just after my free trial period ran out!!).

### 5/5 — Excellent

*2025-08-03, version 3.1*

I honestly don’t know what some people expect. This guide has an amazing amount of detailed information about every bird you’re likely to see in the whole of Europe, and it’s easy to navigate through. Highly recommended.

### 1/5 — Wrong names

*2025-05-22, version 3.0.4*

Despite setting for British English the wrong primary names are used eg. Loons instead of divers

### 5/5 — Wie das Buch, jedoch mit weiteren Features

*2025-05-01*

Eine hervorragende App, äußerst kompakt im Feld und mit dem Mehrwert der Vogelstimmen im Vergleich zum Buch. Mittlerweile gab es, seit ich sie nutze, viele Aktualisierungen, Bearbeitungen und Fehlerbehebungen, so dass die App mittlerweile auch stabil läuft.
Einziger Kritikpunkt wäre noch, dass Neuerungen bei der Taxonomie bei einigen Arten noch nicht übernommen wurden (Bsp.: Aquila pomarina - mittlerweile meist als Clanga pomarina bezeichnet).

**Developer response:** Wir hoffen, dass Ihre Abstürze jetzt behoben sind. Lassen Sie es uns bitte wissen, indem Sie uns eine E-Mail schreiben (support@natureguides.com) oder aktualisieren Sie Ihre Bewertung - das hilft wirklich sehr.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

## Frequently asked questions about Collins Bird Guide

### What does the Collins Bird Guide app do?

The app serves as a digital field guide for identifying European bird species. It provides detailed illustrations, comprehensive text information, bird calls, and range maps to help users identify birds they encounter. It also includes features for recording sightings and comparing similar species.

### What are the key features of the Collins Bird Guide app?

Key features include coverage of 973 species with over 3,700 illustrations, detailed text on habitat, range, and voice, a tool to record sightings with location and date, a powerful search filter, curated lists of confusable species, and over 1,100 songs and calls. Optional in-app purchases add video clips and AI-powered identification.

### How much does the Collins Bird Guide app cost?

The app is free to download and use with its core identification features. However, certain advanced features, such as expert-edited video clips for species and the Identify Assist subscription service for AI-powered photo and recording identification, require in-app purchases.

### What are the common use cases for the Collins Bird Guide app?

This app is ideal for birdwatchers who want to identify birds they see or hear in Europe. It can be used in the field for quick identification, for learning more about specific species, for keeping a log of bird sightings, and for comparing birds that look similar. The AI identification feature offers a modern approach to species recognition.

### What devices is the Collins Bird Guide app compatible with?

The app is designed for Apple devices and requires iOS 17.0 or later. It is available to browse in full glory on iPad and is an essential companion on iPhone, offering a convenient way to access extensive bird information.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.3.0 — 2026-07-09

You can now pinch-zoom into the illustrations in the introduction, and the main map key is now large and easier to read as well. We've fixed an issue where the widget would show birds that you had hidden using the region filtering option in the settings, and have updated many Norwegian names.

For Identify subscribers we've improved the audio identification AI model and made some changes to the similar songs and calls.

### 3.2.3 — 2026-03-05

We've improved the experience of cropping images in image identification, improved several illustration annotations and fixed an issue where the Daily Bird widget wouldn't work for a few of you.

### 3.2.2 — 2025-11-12

We've fixed a few more bugs.

### 3.2.1 — 2025-11-10

We've fixed a few bugs.

### 3.2 — 2025-11-06

Collins Bird Guide is now available in Dutch! We've also added some new songs and calls, made improvements to the Identify Assist AI models and added the option of a spectrogram to audio identification.

## Apps similar to Collins Bird Guide

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Audubon Bird Guide](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/audubon-bird-guide/id333227386) | 4.3 (4,517) | Free | Reference |
| [Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab/id773457673) | 4.9 (111,272) | Free | Reference |
| [Picture Bird: Bird identifier](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/picture-bird-bird-identifier/id1474586978) | 4.7 (39,822) | Free | Reference |
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| [ChirpOMatic - BirdSong USA](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chirpomatic-birdsong-usa/id1233785633) | 4.6 (1,691) | Free | Reference |
| [Birda - Bird Watching, Birding](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/birda-bird-watching-birding/id1564130920) | 4.7 (2,164) | Free | Reference |

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-30.*