Comparison

Collins Bird Guide vs The Warbler Guide

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

Head to head
About

Collins Bird Guide

This comprehensive field guide app helps users identify European bird species with detailed illustrations, sounds, and text. It offers powerful search filters, sighting logs, and curated lists of similar birds for quick identification. Optional in-app purchases unlock video clips and advanced AI-powered identification assistance.

Highlights
  • 973 species covered
  • 3,700+ illustrations
  • Detailed species text
  • Record sightings
  • Powerful search filter
  • Confusable species lists
  • 1,100+ songs and calls
Features
Read full description

‘It’s much more convenient than taking a big book with you...the Collins app is fantastic.’ – Chris Packham, Metro ‘The Collins Bird Guide app is destined to become a real triumph, the ultimate in field guide apps — and deservedly so.’ – BirdGuides The Collins Bird Guide App combines world-class illustrations and comprehensive information with intuitive design to create the ultimate field guide for passionate birders and casual birdwatchers alike. The app is based on the landmark book by Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström, universally acknowledged as the standard European field guide. This definitive work has been reimagined for iPad and iPhone by birders for birders. The Collins Bird Guide App provides everything you need to identify a species quickly and learn about it thoroughly. Immerse yourself in the exceptional illustrations, maps, calls and concise text. Use the powerful search filter and curated confusion lists to focus in on a species. The Collins Bird Guide App is an essential companion always to hand on your iPhone, and available to browse in full glory on your iPad. Features include: ‣ 973 species covered - 843 illustrated ‣ 3,700+ beautiful illustrations by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström ‣ Detailed text covering habitat, range, identification and voice by Lars Svensson ‣ Record sightings, location and date with the listing tool ‣ Powerful search filter ‣ Intuitive design to quickly and easily swipe through species ‣ Curated lists of confusable species ‣ Over 1,100 carefully selected songs and calls – many by Lars Svensson ‣ Select species names from 30+ languages ‣ Expertly edited video clips for 811 species in the app (require in-app purchase) ‣ Available in English, Swedish, Norwegian, French and German ‣ Weighs nothing! Identify Assist is our brand-new subscription service. Instantly identify species from photos and recordings with cutting-edge AI. As well as this and the optional video library, the app incorporates British Trust for Ornithology/BirdWatch Ireland/Scottish Ornithologists' Club Bird Atlas 2007–11 mapping data as an in-app purchase, providing the most comprehensive location mapping of any bird guide app. The latest version of the app requires iOS 17.0 or later. If you like the app, don’t forget to share the app, rate it and leave a review. Privacy Policy natureguides.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

The Warbler Guide

Identify birds by sight or song with this comprehensive guide. Features 3D models, detailed ID points, and a vast library of songs and calls to help you quickly and confidently identify warblers in the field.

Highlights
  • Bird identification by sight and song
  • Interactive 3D bird models
  • Extensive warbler song library
  • Visual and audio comparison tools
  • Detailed ID points and master pages
  • Age and sex determination guide
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Warbler Guide App Tom Stephenson & Scott Whittle Winner of the 2016 PROSE Award for Best App/eProduct The Warbler Guide App is the perfect companion to Princeton’s revolutionary and widely acclaimed book The Warbler Guide, by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle. Whether for study or field use, this innovative app delivers the full power of The Warbler Guide in your pocket—plus unique new app-only features. The app allows you to identify birds by view or song, quickly and intuitively. Exciting new 3D graphics enable you to view a bird from the exact angle you see it in the field. And the whole range of warbler songs is easily played, compared, and filtered. Breakthrough features from The Warbler Guide book that are included in the app: • Rapid and confident two-step ID process using visual finders and comparison species • The first complete treatment of warbler songs, using a new objective vocabulary • An intuitive visual finder that includes side, 45-degree, and undertail views • Master Pages with detailed ID points • Complete guide to determining the age and sex of warblers with photos of all ages and sexes • Annotated sonograms showing song structure and key ID points • Complete songs, chip calls, and flight calls for all species • Comparison species for making confident visual and audio IDs • Many additional photos to show behavior and reinforce key ID points • Highlighted diagnostic ID points • Color Impression Icons for narrowing down ID of warblers from the briefest glimpses • Behavior and habitat icons Unique new app-only features: • 3D models of birds in all plumages, rotatable and pinch-zoomable to match field experience of a bird • Intuitive, visual, and interactive finders with filters for possible species based on audio and visual criteria chosen by the user • Playback of all songs and vocalizations with sonograms makes study of vocalizations easy • Selectable finder sortings grouped by color, alphabetical order, song type, and taxonomic order • Interactive song finder using objective vocabulary for fast ID of unknown songs • Simultaneous visual and song finders make identifying an unknown warbler even easier • Half-speed song playback allows for easier study of song structure • Comparison species with selectable side, 45 degree, and undertail views • Features 75 3D images • Covers 48 species and 75 plumages • Includes 277 vocalizations, 156 songs, 73 contact calls, and 48 flight calls • Detailed "how to use" tutorial screens Requires iOS 7.0 or later Tom Stephenson’s articles and photos have appeared in Birding and Bird Watcher’s Digest, at Surf-birds.com, and in the Handbook of the Birds of the World. He has guided groups across the United States and Asia. A musician, he has had several Grammy and Academy Award winners as clients, and was director of technology at Roland Corporation. Scott Whittle lives in Cape May, New Jersey, and has twenty years of experience as a professional photographer and educator. He holds an MFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York, is a fellow of the MacDowell Colony, and is a onetime New York State Big Year record holder.

Screenshots

Collins Bird Guide4 screens
The Warbler Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: The Warbler Guide at 4.5 against Collins Bird Guide's 4.0. The Warbler Guide also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and review sentiment (80% vs 57%). Collins Bird Guide's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 13 months). On ratings volume, 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

Collins Bird Guide costs $14.99 and The Warbler Guide $12.99 up front. Collins Bird Guide sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. The Warbler Guide asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Warbler Guide holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 28 and 46 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Collins Bird Guide's written reviews are positive against 80% of The Warbler Guide's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Collins Bird Guide ships an update every 3 weeks, The Warbler Guide every 13 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Collins Bird Guide versus The Warbler Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCollins Bird GuideThe Warbler Guide
Price$14.99$12.99 — better
Rating4.0 (28 ratings)4.5 (46 ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.3% of reviews79.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2846 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 13 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#45 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.2 GB647 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNatureGuides Ltd.Princeton University Press

Customer experience

Collins Bird Guide

All ratings28 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral10.7%
Negative17.9%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive57.3%
Neutral17.6%
Negative25.2%

The Warbler Guide

All ratings46 ratings
Positive87.0%
Neutral4.3%
Negative8.7%
Written reviews44 reviews
Positive79.5%
Neutral9.1%
Negative11.4%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Collins Bird Guide

Subscriptions2
  • Identify Assist - monthly$2.991 Month
  • Identify Assist - yearly14 Days trial$17.991 Year
One-time8
  • BTO Atlas Maps Pack$1.99
  • DDA Maps$1.99
  • Third edition$1.99
Show 5 more
  • Video Library Volume 1$4.99
  • Video Library Volume 2$4.99
  • Video Library Volume 3$4.99
  • EBBA2 Breeding Maps$4.99
  • Video Library$9.99
None

The Warbler Guide

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Collins Bird Guide free?
Collins Bird Guide costs $14.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is The Warbler Guide free?
The Warbler Guide costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Collins Bird Guide or The Warbler Guide?
The Warbler Guide is rated higher. Collins Bird Guide averages 4.0 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while The Warbler Guide averages 4.5 from 46 ratings.
Do Collins Bird Guide or The Warbler Guide have ads?
Neither Collins Bird Guide nor The Warbler Guide shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Collins Bird Guide or The Warbler Guide?
Collins Bird Guide ships an update every 3 weeks, and The Warbler Guide every 13 months. Most recently, Collins Bird Guide was updated on October 24, 2026 and The Warbler Guide on October 24, 2026.

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