Comparison

BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide vs Raptor ID

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide

Discover birds around you and find species you want to see. Explore common birds with detailed photos and learn about local species. Paid subscriptions unlock access to all countable species globally and advanced features for serious birders.

Highlights
  • Instant bird lists with recent sightings
  • Seasonal abundance data
  • Driving directions to hotspots
  • Life list syncing with eBird
  • Trip planning with favorite locations
  • Access to bird sound packages
  • Rare bird alerts
Features
Read full description

BirdsEye is a unique and powerful tool that helps you discover the birds around you and find the birds you want to see. See more birds with BirdsEye! BirdsEye is the perfect tool for birders of any level, naturalists and educators. The free version of BirdsEye also includes stunning and detailed photographs from many top birders, bird photographers and guides. "Best invention for birding since binoculars"... Kenn Kaufman, author of the famed Kaufman Field Guides to Birds of North America "A landmark in birding"… John Fitzpatrick, Director, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology BirdsEye is great for beginning and intermediate birders as a free download. Explore the 100 most common birds near you (or for any spot on earth), and learn about the birds you are most likely to see in your yard or the local park. When you are ready to see more, paid subscriptions give you access to every countable species in your region or worldwide. Features: INSTANT BIRD LISTS • See customized lists of birds reported recently near you, at birding hotspots, or any random point on earth! • Sea seasonal abundance for each bird for that location • View recent eBird sightings and get driving directions to each one INCREASE YOUR LIFE LIST • See a list of “needs” - species recently reported nearby that aren't on your selected life or year list • Reports of rare and notable birds in your area and across the ABA region • Automatically sync your life or year lists with eBird for the ABA area, world, country, state or even county! TRIP PLANNING • Find additional content in the Bird Guide Store for other continents, including sounds, images and bird-finding tips from local experts. • Set Favorite Locations for your destinations to scope out recent sightings • Get driving directions right to any hotspot or sighting • Support for bird names in several languages STORE We have partnered with Birdsounds.nl, the premier online store selling bird sounds packages for many regions around the world. Access these extensive collections of bird songs from right inside of BirdsEye. Currently available sound packages include: Bird Sounds of Costa Rica, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Mexico, Northern Siberia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Peru, Colombia, Belgium and Holland, and Malaysia! Most BirdsEye functionality is available to all of our users. Certain premium features require a regional or world membership to unlock their full potential. Premium features include: • More checklists for species on the Rare Bird Alert • Rare Bird Alert - see the latest reported ABA rarities and eBird checklist • Search for Notables up to 250 miles from current location • Unlimited Favorite Locations • View Bird List for any month of the year • Downloading content for offline use A NOTE ON MEMBERSHIPS: In addition to regional memberships, we offer a World membership that gives you access to all of the birds on earth and several other features. Your membership helps pay for our ongoing efforts to create the most innovative and powerful birding apps in the world. We do not and have never earned a profit on the sale of this app, but do it to support the birding community. Memberships, donations and the contributions of photos help us keep making BirdsEye better. To get your membership, just launch BirdsEye and go to the Store. You'll see a membership option. The first monthly payment will be charged to your iTunes Account when you confirm your purchase. Your BIRDSEYE memberships and subscriptions renew each month and your iTunes account will be charged automatically. You can turn off auto-renew at any point from your iTunes account settings. See birdseyebirding.com/privacy for more information. We are committed to supporting the birding community and bird conservation through the eBird project. Our goal is to encourage participation through BirdsEye.

About

Raptor ID

This app provides expert-level identification for North America's diurnal raptors. It features nearly 1000 annotated photos and videos to help users identify birds in flight, catering to both beginners and experienced birdwatchers.

Highlights
  • 1000+ annotated photos
  • Identification videos in flight
  • Range maps with eBird links
  • Species vocalizations
  • Expert Q&A forum
Features
Read full description

The first raptor identification app designed for mobile devices; "HawkWatch International's Identification Guide to Raptors" puts expert hawk identification content in the palm of your hand. In this guide to North America's 34 species of diurnal raptors, you'll find nearly 1000 annotated photos, and cutting edge identification video for each species, geared toward helping you identify raptors in flight. If you're just getting started with birding, this app covers the basics; if you're already an expert hawk watcher, this app covers all the variation that can lead to identification confusion, even among the most seasoned birders. • Developed by HawkWatch International in partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology • Comprehensive identification content created by Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan • ~1000 annotated photos covering plumage, age/sex, and geographic variation • Cutting edge ID-focused video showing each species in flight, including voice-over ID tips from Jerry Liguori • Range maps with links to interactive seasonal eBird maps • Vocalizations for each species • 'Ask the authors' raptor ID question forum

Screenshots

BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide4 screens
Raptor ID4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Raptor ID at none against BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide's 10. Raptor ID also leads on review sentiment (84% vs 66%). BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 50). On price, rating and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Raptor ID asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide against 4.5 for Raptor ID. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide has 1.9K ratings behind it against 50, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide's written reviews are positive against 84% of Raptor ID's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide ships an update every 2 months, Raptor ID every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide versus Raptor ID: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBirdsEye Bird Finding GuideRaptor ID
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.9K ratings)4.5 (50 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.2% of reviews83.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.9K — better50
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB766 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBirds In The Hand, LLCHawkWatch International

Customer experience

BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide

All ratings1,871 ratings
Positive89.8%
Neutral3.8%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews151 reviews
Positive66.2%
Neutral8.6%
Negative25.2%

Raptor ID

All ratings44 ratings
Positive86.4%
Neutral6.8%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive83.9%
Neutral3.2%
Negative12.9%

Bugs and requests

BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Membership not recognized in app
  • Frequent download errors and issues
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices
  • Rare species and location data not up-to-date

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved offline access and data syncing
  • Better integration with eBird
  • More detailed species information
  • Customizable lists and reporting
  • Faster and more reliable performance

Raptor ID

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide

Subscriptions10
  • BirdsEye Africa Membeship$1.991 Month
  • BirdsEye - Hawaii and the South Pacific$1.991 Month
  • Europe and the Western Palearctic$1.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • BirdsEye Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean$1.991 Month
  • Asia Membership$1.991 Month
  • South America Membership$1.991 Month
  • US and Canada Membership$2.991 Month
  • World Membership1 Month trial$4.991 Month
  • US and Canada Membership$29.991 Year
  • World Membership$39.991 Year
None

Raptor ID

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide free?
BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Raptor ID free?
Raptor ID is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide or Raptor ID?
Raptor ID is rated higher. BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Raptor ID averages 4.5 from 50 ratings.
Do BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide or Raptor ID have ads?
Raptor ID shows ads; BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide does not.
Which is updated more often, BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide or Raptor ID?
BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide ships an update every 2 months, and Raptor ID every 5 months. Most recently, BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide was updated on November 3, 2026 and Raptor ID on November 2, 2026.

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