Comparison

Learn Bird Watching vs Nature's Notebook

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

Head to head
About

Learn Bird Watching

Learn to identify birds by sound and sight with a game-based system. This app offers audio and visual courses created by experts to improve your birding skills, suitable for beginners and advanced enthusiasts alike.

Highlights
  • Game-based learning system
  • Identify birds by sound
  • Identify birds by sight
  • Expert-created courses
  • Suitable for all skill levels
  • Master birding by ear
Features
Read full description

BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA Learn birds the fun way! Learn to identify the birds that you're seeing and hearing. Take birding and birdwatching to a new level! Larkwire is a complete, game-based system for learning. Great for beginners and still challenging for advanced birders. Audio courses teach you to identify bird sounds and visual courses teach plumage. All courses are created by world class experts in field identification. This is the app used by professionals to master birding by ear. ***** "Best thing I’ve ever bought on the App Store." (Shopetastic review, 04/16/2020) ***** "Uniformly excellent" (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) ***** "A Rosetta Stone for birdsong." (Birding Magazine) ***** "This is a really cool tool!" (BirdChick) ***** "Really fun!" (Wildlife South) ********************************************** "Larkwire is already helping immensely with my ability to bird in the field. And my 7-year-old daughter is asking for 'that bird song game on the computer.'—I guess you have THREE of us hooked!" (Courtenay Schurman, Mountaineering Trainer) ********************************************** ********************************************** "It's like having a personal teacher who can pinpoint my weaknesses and make me work on them as I play. By far the best value for your money when you think about buying an avian audio guide." (Alain Clavette, aka @Acadian_Birder) ********************************************** ********************************************** "A fantastic tool for learning and reviewing birdsong. ... What I can vouch for, as a teacher, is the solid learning theory behind the software—this program is sure to improve the speed and accuracy with which you identify birds by ear." (David Pugh, Calgary Birder) ********************************************** SUPPORT For questions or support, email: support@larkwire.com EULA - Apple standard End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Nature's Notebook

Record observations of plant and animal life cycles, such as flowering and migration. Mark observation sites, create species lists, and log seasonal changes in nature.

Highlights
  • Record plant and animal life cycle events
  • Mark observation sites
  • Create species lists
  • Log seasonal observations
  • Citizen science program
Read full description

Nature's Notebook is a program for observing and recording plant and animal life cycle events, like flowering and bird migration. Use this app to mark your sites, create a list of plants and animals, and going into the field to record observations throughout the seasons. Find out more at www.usanpn.org/nn/guidelines.

Screenshots

Learn Bird Watching4 screens
Nature's Notebook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Learn Bird Watching at 91% against Nature's Notebook's 40%. Learn Bird Watching also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.1) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 26). Nature's Notebook's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). On price, ads 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. Learn Bird Watching sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per year. Nature's Notebook asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Learn Bird Watching holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Bird Watching has 1.3K ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 91% of Learn Bird Watching's written reviews are positive against 40% of Nature's Notebook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn Bird Watching ships an update every 9 days, Nature's Notebook every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and July 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Learn Bird Watching versus Nature's Notebook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn Bird WatchingNature's Notebook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.3K ratings) — better3.1 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews90.7% of reviews — better40.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.3K — better26
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLarkwireNational Phenology Network

Customer experience

Learn Bird Watching

All ratings1,284 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive90.7%
Neutral4.7%
Negative4.7%

Nature's Notebook

All ratings26 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral15.4%
Negative34.6%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative20.0%

Bugs and requests

Learn Bird Watching

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unable to download sample content
  • Repeating the same bird songs in succession
  • Inconsistent progress tracking

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add bird song playback when selecting bird images
  • Implement voice recognition for answering questions
  • Include spectrograms for better visual learning
  • Expand coverage to birds in other regions

Nature's Notebook

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Learn Bird Watching

Subscriptions3
  • Single Course Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • All Courses Annual7 Days trial$44.991 Year
  • All Courses Annual (Family)7 Days trial$64.991 Year
One-time7
  • Bird Songs Core West (N. Am)$9.99
  • Bird Songs Core East (N. Am)$9.99
  • Waterbirds Core (N. Am)$9.99
Show 4 more
  • Bird Songs Pro East (N. Am)$24.99
  • Bird Songs Pro West (N. Am)$24.99
  • Waterbirds songs/calls (N. Am)$24.99
  • Breeding Plumage East (N.Am.)$24.99
None

Nature's Notebook

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Learn Bird Watching free?
Learn Bird Watching is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nature's Notebook free?
Nature's Notebook is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Learn Bird Watching or Nature's Notebook?
Learn Bird Watching is rated higher. Learn Bird Watching averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.3K ratings, while Nature's Notebook averages 3.1 from 26 ratings.
Do Learn Bird Watching or Nature's Notebook have ads?
Neither Learn Bird Watching nor Nature's Notebook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Learn Bird Watching or Nature's Notebook?
Learn Bird Watching ships an update every 9 days, and Nature's Notebook every 3 weeks. Most recently, Learn Bird Watching was updated on September 21, 2026 and Nature's Notebook on July 7, 2026.

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