Audubon Bird Guide vs eBird
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Audubon Bird Guide
Identify North American birds with this comprehensive field guide. Features include a bird ID tool based on observations, detailed species information with photos and audio, and a personal sightings log. Discover nearby birding locations and connect with conservation efforts.
- Bird identification tool
- Detailed species profiles
- Bird song and call audio
- Sightings log and life list
- Nearby birding hotspots
- Photo sharing
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The Audubon Bird Guide is a free and complete field guide to over 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. Built for all experience levels, it will help you identify the birds around you, keep track of the birds you’ve seen, and get outside to find new birds near you. With over 2 million downloads to date, it is one of the best and most trusted field guides for North American birds. KEY FEATURES: ALL-NEW: BIRD ID It's now easier than ever to identify a bird you just saw. Enter all you were able to observe—what color was it? How big? What did its tail look like?—and Bird ID will narrow down a list of possible matches for your location and date in real time. LEARN ABOUT THE BIRDS YOU LOVE Our field guide features over 3,000 photos, over eight hours of audio clips of songs and calls, multi-season range maps, and in-depth text by leading North American bird expert Kenn Kaufman. KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE BIRDS YOU SEE With our completely redesigned Sightings feature, you can keep a record of every bird you encounter, whether you're hiking, sitting on the porch, or simply catching a glimpse of birds out the window. We'll even keep an updated life list for you. EXPLORE THE BIRDS AROUND YOU See where the birds are with nearby birding hotspots and real-time sightings from eBird. SHARE PHOTOS Post your photos to the Photo Feed so other Audubon Bird Guide users can see your best bird shots. GET INVOLVED WITH AUDUBON Keep up with the latest news from the world of birds, science, and conservation. Find an Audubon location near you to go birding. Or see where your voice is needed and take action to protect birds and the places they need, right from your app. Have any questions or need help? Contact us at audubonconnect@audubon.org About Audubon: The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon’s vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive.
eBird
Easily record bird sightings in the field and contribute to a global database for scientific research and conservation. This app offers offline functionality, customized checklists, and GPS-enabled location plotting.
- Record bird observations globally
- Global taxonomy and local common names
- Location and time-based checklists
- Rare species flagging
- Offline functionality
- GPS location plotting
- Trip and day list tracking
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eBird Mobile makes it easy to record the birds you see in the field, and seamlessly link these observations with eBird--a global online database of bird records used by hundreds of thousands of birders around the world. This free resource makes it easy to keep track of what you see, while making your data openly available for scientific research, education, and conservation. eBird Mobile is the only app that passes information directly from the iOS device to your eBird account on the web. Features - Enter bird observations from any location around the world. - Full global taxonomy based on The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. - Common names available in local languages (e.g., Portuguese names in Brazil or in Portugal). - Checklists customized for your location and time of year, showing most likely species based on eBird data. - Rare species flagged during data entry and on the checklist. - "Record as you go" functionality for incremental list keeping and counting while birding. - GPS enabled location plotting to ensure accuracy. - Map tools that enable selecting from hundreds of thousands of eBird "Hotspots." - Full offline functionality, enabling use in places with limited or no Internet connection. - Trip and Day list functionality that makes it easy to keep track of your species list on a particular outing. - Support for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. - Entire app translated to German, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Turkish, and Dutch.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Audubon Bird Guide at 4.3 against eBird's 3.8. Audubon Bird Guide also leads on review sentiment (64% vs 37%) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 803). eBird's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Audubon Bird Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Audubon Bird Guide has 4.5K ratings behind it against 803, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Audubon Bird Guide's written reviews are positive against 37% of eBird's.
Audubon Bird Guide ships an update every 3 weeks, eBird monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Audubon Bird Guide | eBird |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (4.5K ratings) — better | 3.8 (803 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.3% of reviews — better | 36.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4.5K — better | 803 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #118 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 358 MB | 81 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | National Audubon Society | Cornell University |
Customer experience
Audubon Bird Guide
eBird
User reviews
Audubon Bird Guide
From 4.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great app
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🔍 Helpful for identifying birds
- 🎶 Useful bird calls and sounds
- 📍 Provides location-based bird sightings
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes
- 🔄 Confusing interface changes
- 🔒 Requires account creation
- 📍 Limited location-based features
- 🗺️ Outdated or incomplete range maps
eBird
From 803 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent for citizen science
- 🔍 Helpful for finding birds at hotspots
- 📚 Useful for tracking life lists
- 👍 Easy to use and submit checklists
- 🤝 Integrates well with Merlin Bird ID
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 📍 Issues with location tracking and mapping
- 🤔 Unintuitive user interface
- 🔒 Privacy concerns with location data
Bugs and requests
Audubon Bird Guide
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes when opening settings
- Incorrect sighting location recording
- Unreliable login and account features
- Compatibility issues with newer devices
- Syncing and data loss problems
Requested features
7 requests- Add photo ID and sound ID features
- Improve location-based bird sightings
- Expand coverage to more regions/countries
- Allow offline access to field guide
- Provide more detailed bird information
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- Improve sorting and filtering options
- Sync sightings with other platforms
eBird
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes when trying to start a new checklist
- Inability to log in or access account
- Inconsistent behavior with bird pack downloads
- Checklist data not syncing across devices
- Explore feature not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to upload photos and audio directly in the app
- Implement alphabetical sorting for checklists
- Improve syncing between app and website
- Add more advanced filtering and search options
- Provide offline access to bird information
In-app purchases
Audubon Bird Guide
No in-app purchases
eBird
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Audubon Bird Guide free?
Is eBird free?
Which has better reviews, Audubon Bird Guide or eBird?
Do Audubon Bird Guide or eBird have ads?
Which is updated more often, Audubon Bird Guide or eBird?
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