# Roberts Birds — The Most Comprehensive Birdapp

> Comprehensive South African bird identification and information app. (iPhone/iPad app by High Branching cc.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roberts-birds/id6737166138 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [High Branching cc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1235289409)
- Category: Reference, Books
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 1.50/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 36 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 16.0 · 1.6 GB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2024-12-06
- Data updated: 2026-08-25
- Monetization: subscription
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roberts-birds/id6737166138/reviews.md

## What is Roberts Birds?

Roberts Birds is the most comprehensive bird app in South Africa.

After downloading the App you have to buy a mandatory Core Version yearly subscription for the app to function. The Core version subscription does not include the image recognition which is an additional yearly subscription.

https://www.smartsearchsightings.com/roberts.htm

Robert’s Bird App boasts an award winning identification tool and has a vast source of information:
- Over 10000 beautiful and diagnostic illustrations and images of all variants, e.g. immature, males, females, dark and light morphs
- Over 2200 comprehensive and clear bird calls
- Over 700 comparative plates
- The most comprehensive information on southern African birds
- Interactive and accurate bird distribution maps, showing the migration patterns per month where applicable.

The ID Search function allows you to select your current, or any other location and the birds at that location will be filtered. Over and above the GPS location, you can search by shape, type, colours, size, where seen, bird calls and more. There are 100's of attributes you can choose from, which makes identifying a bird accurate and easy. As a first ever bird app achievement, the resulting bird list is sorted by relevance with the most probable birds matching your search criteria at the top, which makes it extremely quick and accurate. The ability to remove birds from the results is a game-changer. It even has a section for hard to identify birds (LBJ's, etc)

In addition to the ID Search function, Roberts Birds contains the most accurate Image Recognition for South African birds. You can upload images from your device or take a photo with the device's camera, which will then be used for the Image Recognition. This function has a 2-week evaluation period.

Roberts Birds also offers the most accurate location filter available. You can select current location, location from a map, a country or any of over 1200 South African reserves.

You can also log your sightings with trip descriptions, date and notes, which are then indicated as pins on the distribution maps. Sightings lists can be viewed and can even be synced to a website and shared between devices.

Roberts Birds also offers a Similars functionality. It not only ranks the similars, it also gives preference to your location selection. When using a location filter, similars at that location will be ranked higher and similars outside of your selected location will be displayed last.
No internet connectivity is required to operate the app after it is installed which makes it possible to use the app in the most remote locations.

All updates are regular and free.

For instructions of how to access older versions of the Roberts apps, please contact support@robertsbirds.co.za

Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

## Key features

- Extensive bird illustrations and images
- Large library of bird calls
- Comparative bird plates
- Interactive distribution maps
- Advanced ID Search with multiple filters
- Image recognition for bird identification
- Sighting logging and syncing

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Roberts Birds Subscription | $14.99 | per year |
| Including Image Recognition | $19.99 | per year |
| Robert Image ID | $5.99 | per year |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 36)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roberts-birds/id6737166138/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Hugely disappointed

*2026-04-01*

I’ve always had the Robers Bird app on my iPhone. However, the new annual subscription model is an absolute ripoff.

### 1/5 — Unfortunately, not working. Sync and back-up is buggy and cannot be fixed.

*2026-01-07*

The app, if it was working, would have been great. Unfortunately one looses important information when importing lists from the original app (e.g. no GPS data etc). The killer is the sync. Every time one syncs to the Roberts Server it duplicates all entries on the server. The App support, once removed the duplicates, when I contacted them, but no lasting solution was found. This means that the sync slows down up until it is no longer usable. Really a pity. We will go back to the old version and hope this one gets fixed. Kind regards, from Namibia

### 1/5 — Expensive subscription

*2025-12-10*

Hugely disappointing that this app is released on an expensive subscription model. I’d happily pay a decent amount as a one-off payment but the subscription model is just an annoying cash grab.

### 5/5 — Birding beginner

*2025-11-05, version 2.4*

I have just come from Kgalagadi and was intrigued by the bird species. Your app was recommended. Just finished going through the app and am very excited with what it has to offer.

### 2/5 — Newer app frustrations

*2025-10-25*

The old Roberts 2 bird app was better.   This new version shuts down if I switch between 2 bird choices when trying to id a bird.  Frustrating

### 1/5 — Not a great app

*2025-10-24, version 2.4*

The old Roberts app was much better. This app doesn’t sync, lost my life list and get no feedback or support. Can’t log in and don’t receive the emails to reset password. Getting fire finch app in stead.

### 1/5 — Very frustrating

*2025-10-08, version 2.4*

I paid for the previous version. Once-off with no subscription. Got a new phone and hey, there’s a new version…

I couldn’t sign in, knew it’s subscription based and the developer doesn’t answer my e-mail. Absolutely awful. And this about an app which I really loved and enjoyed.

### 1/5 — New Robert’s

*2025-09-23, version 2.4*

I personally don’t mind the change to annual fee but the old Robert’s format was more appealing and easier to use for the average consumer in my opinion. The new format it is difficult to get used and not as easy to use. I used to flick through the old one when bored but now I find myself opening the app if I’m really struggling to identify a bird.safe to say I won’t be renewing my subscription unless changes are made to make the app more user friendly

### 1/5 — Not in app purchases actually completely paid app

*2025-09-19, version 2.3*

Can’t do anything without paying

### 1/5 — Have to buy it again

*2025-09-19, version 2.3*

I bought the version before this one for over R500 (once off to own) Now that I’ve upgraded my iPhone, App Store no longer has my version and now I have to pay yearly for this one. Not fair play!

## Frequently asked questions about Roberts Birds

### What does Roberts Birds do?

Roberts Birds is a comprehensive application for identifying and learning about South African birds. It provides detailed information, illustrations, bird calls, distribution maps, and advanced identification tools, including image recognition.

### How does the identification tool work?

The ID Search function allows you to filter birds by location, shape, type, colors, size, where seen, bird calls, and many other attributes. The results are sorted by relevance, with the most probable matches appearing first.

### Is Roberts Birds free to use?

No, Roberts Birds requires a mandatory yearly subscription for its Core Version to function. Image recognition is an additional yearly subscription. There is a 2-week evaluation period for the Image Recognition function.

### Can I use Roberts Birds offline?

Yes, after installation, no internet connectivity is required to operate the app. This makes it suitable for use in remote locations where internet access may be unavailable.

### What kind of information is available for each bird?

The app offers over 10,000 illustrations and images of all variants, over 2200 bird calls, over 700 comparative plates, comprehensive information on southern African birds, and interactive distribution maps showing migration patterns.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.6.2 — 2026-06-13

Improved restoring of purchases
More calls added

### 2.6.1 — 2026-04-12

Fix for restoring purchase

### 2.6 — 2026-02-15

New Field Guide functionality (containing image plates of bird families)
Added German names by family
Bug fixes

### 2.5 — 2026-01-23

•⁠  ⁠New circular month scroller on maps, allowing for around the year sliding
•⁠  ⁠⁠New method for adding sightings on the bird list with pop-up in row allowing for easier addition of multiple birds.
•⁠  ⁠⁠Group by English Family on list (or Afrikaans if that is your primary language)
•⁠  ⁠⁠Calls 150 more bird calls
•⁠  ⁠⁠Better layout of call descriptions
•⁠  ⁠⁠ID Search is now using location selection as pre-filter
•⁠  ⁠⁠Menu options highlighting improved

### 2.4 — 2025-09-22

Added Life List progress bar to My Lists view
Added Name Search shortcut to main menu
Faster loading of bird list
Added more calls

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All apps by High Branching cc: https://appshunter.io/developer/1235289409

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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 2026-08-25.*