Birdwatcher's Diary

Birdwatcher's Diary$9.99

Rated 3.83/5 (6) —  Free Android application by Stevens Creek Software

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About Birdwatcher's Diary

Whether you are participating in a Christmas or summer bird count, doing a birdathon or “big day”, a veteran “lister”, or are just looking for an easy way to record and review your daily bird sightings, Birdwatcher’s Diary™ for Android is the perfect birdwatcher's field companion! Fast and easy to use, yet also extremely powerful, Birdwatcher’s Diary will enrich your birding experience. In seconds, you can make a note of birds you see or hear, including time and exact location (both automatically recorded), with additional field notes if you wish. Later, you can review the sightings as a list or on a map, upload your sightings to eBird, and much, much more. And Stevens Creek Software donates 50% of the proceeds from this software to support the conservation, research and education work of local bird organizations!

o A simple tap marks a species as seen and records the location and time of the sighting. If you are counting birds, further taps increment the count, with a built-in calculator available for large increments.
o Enhanced Intelliscroll™ switches between one- and two-letter alphabet tabs for superfast scrolling to the desired species; no need to scroll through 100 names starting with "S".
o Sightings can be marked as visual or "heard only".
o Coordinates can be recorded automatically for every bird (GPS-equipped unit recommended) or only for specific sightings.
o Recording of information (time, coordinates) for multiple sightings of the same species is optional (default records information only for the first sighting).
o Built-in, user-configurable "phrase list" makes adding notes to your sightings ("Breeding plumage", "Juvenile", etc.) a simple matter of tapping and not typing.
o Sort birds by Last Name, First Name, Bird Banding Code, Time Seen, or Taxonomic Order.
o Quickly switch between viewing all birds, only those seen or heard, or only those not seen or heard. View sightings at all locations or only the current location.
o Add "trip notes" to each day's sightings.
o Save and recall daily sightings directly on the device. Internet access not required for any aspect of the software.
o Save and recall daily sightings in the "cloud" using Dropbox™, enabling easy sharing of sightings among multiple devices.
o Create "life lists" of all your recorded sightings, or filtered life lists restricted by country, state, county, birding location, date, or by words or phrases in the trip notes (e.g., "Audubon trip") or the sighting notes (e.g., "Photographed").
o Output data via email, SD Card, or to Dropbox using standard (eBird, Google Maps) or custom formats.
o View sightings on a map on the device, or upload the information and create your own custom Google Map to view from a desktop and share with your friends.
o Preconfigured with U.S., but download dozens of country lists and all 50 state lists directly into the software. Even create your own lists.
o Country lists include standard English and local names for species (as well as scientific name), both for English-speaking countries (e.g., in the U.K., Loons are called "Divers") and non-English speaking (e.g., Mexico list includes names in English and Spanish, Swedish list includes names in English and Swedish, etc.).
o By installing (or simply entering) new lists, software can be used for sightings of anything - birds, reptiles, mammals, etc.
o Supports all characters, not just the Latin alphabet, so species names, user notes, etc. can be entered in European languages with various accent marks, Greek, Cyrilic, Japanese, etc.
o Full compatibility with iOS version, allowing you to record sightings on an iPhone and then view on an Android tablet (or vice-versa)

How to Download / Install

Download and install Birdwatcher's Diary version 1.6.1 on your Android device!
Downloaded 50+ times, content rating: Everyone
Android package: com.stevenscreek.birdwatcher, download Birdwatcher's Diary.apk

All Application Badges

Paid
app
Android
3.0+
For everyone
Android app

App History & Updates

What's Changed
Version 1.6.1:
o Ability to download Country/State/County bird lists from the Stevens Creek Software website directly into the app has been restored.
Price update  Price changed from $9.99 to $11.42.
Version update Birdwatcher's Diary was updated to version 1.6.1
Version update Birdwatcher's Diary was updated to version 1.6
Price update  Price changed from $9.99 to $11.42.

What are users saying about Birdwatcher's Diary

Q70%
by Q####:

The checklist is great in the field but recently the option to change lists stopped working. Now the option has been restored I can now use this great app again. Many thanks.

S70%
by S####:

Learning curve too steep, not useful in the field

P70%
by P####:

You can quickly record your sighting. Adding counts and notes when needed. Output into format for import into ebird.

N70%
by N####:

After trying most of the apps on the market, I've finally found one that I think is the best by a mile. It has lists from all around the world ( you can even make your own custom list). Locations are very easy to set up and access. All lists can be archived to phone or Dropbox, so if phone is lost or broken or if you buy a new phone, your lists are easy to re-install. Lists can be exported by email (say to your local bird club or recorder). The actual recording of the sighting i-e the scrolling to the bird and tapping, is simplicity its self. All this and much more can all be done in the app its self, which to me is a most important feature Support is excellent. You will not regret trying it.

X70%
by X####:

Birdwatcher's Diary addresses some of the shortcomings of BirdLog, which I have been using for 3 years. In particular, it supports keeping a day or trip list covering multiple locations. I like that feature a lot. On the whole, Birdwatcher's Diary is a very useful data recorder. However, after using it intensively on a trip to Peru, I found myself frustrated over some features. "Intelliscroll" just does not work for me. Being limited to two characters when searching for a name is maddening when you have multiple screens of Antbirds, Antpittas, Antshrikes, Antthrushes, Antvireos, and Antwrens, etc., to scroll through. After my return from Peru, support for search was implemented in an update, but incredibly it is only supported in alphabetical list mode! I have no tolerance for alphabetical species lists. The lack of map-based location management is also a serious shortcoming. I continue to use Birdwatcher's Diary when I really need a trip list covering multiple locations, such as for a Christmas Bird Count, but it is not my primary recording tool.

S70%
by S####:

Initial observations after one day's use. I have been using BirdLog for nearly 3 years so I was interested in whether Birdwatcher's Diary addresses any of its shortcomings. It does. I very much like the way that BD is organized around recording a day's birding. If you are an eBirder, you can record your sightings by eBird location, and yet still see your entire day's list. In contrast, BirdLog keeps each location strictly separate so you have no opportunity to review your overall day. This feature alone is probably going to cause me to switch to BD away from BirdLog. One thing that I will miss about Birdlog though is that BD does not allow you to pick eBird hotspots from a map, you have to enter them manually. I really don't understand why they don't add this feature. Overall usability is on a par with BirdLog, i.e., it's good. Unlike BirdLog you cannot simply enter band codes to find a species on the list, but BD's "Intelliscroll" method may prove to be just as fast when I get used to it. Apparently I am the only person to have downloaded this new app so far, and I found a few serious glitches with the initial release, but the developers addressed them quickly.


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Rating Distribution

RATING
3.85
6 users

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