# iBird Photo Sleuth — Identify birds from a photo

> AI-powered bird identification from photographs. (iPhone/iPad app by Mitch Waite Group.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-photo-sleuth/id1364271023 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Mitch Waite Group](https://appshunter.io/developer/297644126)
- Category: Reference, Photo & Video
- Price: $4.99 (on sale, was $9.99)
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 794 App Store ratings · 81 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.6 · 463 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2018-05-11
- Data updated: 2026-09-01
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-photo-sleuth/id1364271023/reviews.md

## What is iBird Photo Sleuth?

This new update to iBird Photo Sleuth now includes access to our ornithology experts who will help identify your bird if you want more help. The “Help Me Identify a Bird” forum has been around for 10 years and has over 100,000 members. 

Every now and then an app breaks out from the pack with features that are simply astonishing. iBird Photo Sleuth fits that mold; use its machine learning "brain" to identify a photograph of any bird of North America, regardless of the photo’s quality. Photo Sleuth uses Apple’s new CoreML machine learning system to figure out the species in even the most distorted, fuzzy and poor contrast photograph. The Photo Sleuth app has been “trained” by over 2 million photos of bird species to ID birds with uncanny accuracy.

You can use iBird Photo Sleuth in the field -- no internet connection is required, because its CoreML database is contained in the app. Take a photo with your camera or select it from the built-in iPhone Photos gallery (Dropbox, Google Photos and OneDrive coming). Don’t worry if the bird is a tiny blob in the frame; Photo Sleuth is smart enough to find the features that distinguish it from all other 900+ bird species of North America.

After you submit your photo to the Sleuth, it will give you a list of its top 3 guesses as thumbnail sized images. Each will display a “Confidence” value between 0% and 100%. When the Sleuth is really sure of its analysis, it will produce a high value; when unsure it will display a low value. If the app thinks that you have submitted a photo of something other than a bird, it will display “Not a Bird.” Of course, some people’s faces look like birds, so it may still suggest a bird species. For example, my selfie came up with “Not a Bird” for the #1 spot and the Barn Owl for #2.

To help confirm the 3 guesses made by Photo Sleuth, you can tap on any of the thumbnail images to open more species details, including an enlarged illustration, text that explains important field marks and a range map that shows the migration coverage of the bird. The range map includes a range and habitat paragraph that helps confirm that the species is indeed located in your GPS area. A future update will add our “Birds Around Me” technology to further narrow the choices that Photo Sleuth guesses. On this same screen you may open a rich content species account in our iBird app (should you have it on your phone) to review much more information, including playing the bird’s songs and calls, seeing similar birds, behavior details and much more.

Sharing of your results can be done two ways: you can share your photo and the Photo Sleuth guesses with your friends via Apple Messages, Email, Facebook, Twitter and all other functions such as printing, which appear on the standard Apple activity menu.

There is also a button for optionally sharing your photo and the results of the Photo Sleuth guess with Mitch Waite Group, so that we can improve our neural network. Both correct and incorrect guesses help us improve the performance of artificial intelligence. Or course, we only use the photograph for training, and the copyright remains with you.

## Key features

- AI-powered bird identification
- Offline identification capabilities
- Top 3 species guesses with confidence scores
- Detailed species information and range maps
- Access to ornithology expert forum
- Photo sharing options

## Chart rankings

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

## What do users think of iBird Photo Sleuth?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Accurate bird identification
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 💡 Helpful for beginners and experienced birders
- 🤝 Good integration with iBird Pro app
- 📸 Works well with poor quality photos

**Cons**

- 🐛 Occasional misidentification of common birds
- 💰 Requires separate purchase from iBird Pro
- 🔍 Limited to North American birds

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Photo upload issues on some devices
- Difficulty identifying certain bird species

**Most requested features**

- Expand bird database to include global species
- Add audio identification capabilities
- Integrate with eBird for seamless reporting

## Recent user reviews (10 of 81)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-photo-sleuth/id1364271023/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Long Time Fan of Mitch’s Wirk

*2025-11-10, version 1.13*

I’ve had a problem with the “fly catcher” bird. I swear today that plasma screen’s are made with fly blood.

### 5/5 — Great app

*2025-05-23, version 1.12*

Nearly always nails the result but if in error points toward the actual result even with my poor photography.

### 5/5 — Our go to bird resource for years

*2025-05-05, version 1.12*

We are not bird listers. We love birds, life stats etc. iBird has been a great aid to us and an easy introduction for friends and family. 
We highly recommend iBird after novices purchase their first bird identification book.

### 5/5 — Ripped Off

*2023-06-03*

I’m an avid birder in South Texas. A few years ago I purchased the iBird app and it included photo sleuth.  A few days ago photo sleuth was gone. A person reached out to me and said it’s been reinstalled. 

Wrong. 

Just a classic and common way that companies get greedy for money. How sad this is how our country has become.

### 5/5 — My favorite bird app

*2023-03-12, version 1.6*

The photo sleuth feature really works (most of the time) and really helps me confirm my bird ID.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t match the bird

*2021-05-23, version 1.6*

Picture of Robin identity not even close. Feel like I’ve been ripped off.

### 1/5 — Didn’t correctly identify birds

*2020-12-29*

App didn’t correctly identify any birds I took photos of.

### 4/5 — Sleuth does not load as in-app purchase of iBird Pro.

*2020-12-12, version 1.6*

Had to pay for it TWICE! And then buy the stand-alone app.

### 1/5 — Poor Accuracy

*2020-11-26, version 1.6*

I have tried several birds of known identity and the app is wrong.

### 5/5 — Love this app

*2020-08-15, version 1.6*

I know my birds, but sometimes I’m not confident, I need help and this app hits it on the button love it!! 💕

## Frequently asked questions about iBird Photo Sleuth

### What does iBird Photo Sleuth do?

iBird Photo Sleuth uses machine learning to identify birds from photographs. It analyzes your photos, even if they are low quality, and provides a list of the top three most likely bird species with a confidence score for each.

### How accurate is the bird identification?

The app has been trained on over 2 million bird photos and uses Apple's CoreML system for high accuracy. It provides a confidence value between 0% and 100% for its guesses, indicating how sure it is of its analysis.

### Does the app require an internet connection?

No, the app does not require an internet connection for identification. Its CoreML database is contained within the app, allowing you to identify birds in the field.

### What information is available after identification?

After identification, you can tap on the suggested species to view enlarged illustrations, text detailing important field marks, and range maps showing migration coverage. You can also access more detailed species accounts in the iBird app if you have it installed.

### Can I get help if the app can't identify a bird?

Yes, the app provides access to an "Help Me Identify a Bird" forum with over 100,000 members and ornithology experts who can assist you with identification if you need more help.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.13 — 2025-07-10

- Fixed connection between Sleuth and iBird

### 1.12 — 2023-09-29

* bug fixes

### 1.11 — 2023-08-18

- Added iPad and Catalyst back
- Enabled Landscape for iPad

### 1.10 — 2023-06-08

- Bug fixes

### 1.7 — 2023-04-16

Minor bug fixes

## Apps similar to iBird Photo Sleuth

| 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 |
| [Picture Bird: Bird identifier](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/picture-bird-bird-identifier/id1474586978) | 4.7 (39,822) | Free | Reference |
| [iBird Pro Guide to Birds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-pro-guide-to-birds/id308018823) | 4.3 (6,916) | Free | Reference |
| [Bird Sound Identifier Song ID](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bird-sound-identifier-song-id/id6452678671) | 4.3 (493) | Free | Reference |
| [Bird Sounds Identifier Call ID](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bird-sounds-identifier-call-id/id6449354786) | 4.7 (13,666) | Free | Reference |
| [Sibley Birds 2nd Edition](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sibley-birds-2nd-edition/id1236011411) | 4.9 (2,830) | $19.99 | Reference |

## More apps by Mitch Waite Group

- [iBird Yard+ Guide to Birds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-yard-plus-guide-to-birds/id297644123)
- [iBird Pro Guide to Birds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-pro-guide-to-birds/id308018823)
- [iBird UK Pro Guide to Birds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-uk-pro-guide-to-birds/id424729739)
- [iBird UK & Ireland Lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-uk-and-ireland-lite/id441884227)
- [iBird Ultimate Guide to Birds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-ultimate-guide-to-birds/id872771050)
- [iBird Hawaii & Palau Guide](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibird-hawaii-and-palau-guide/id943689969)

All apps by Mitch Waite Group: https://appshunter.io/developer/297644126

## Related topics

[ibird photo sleuth](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ibird-photo-sleuth)

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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 2026-09-01.*