BirdNET

A Google user

5 years ago

When it works, it's very cool. Terrible UI, though. And - too often - it can't identify the bird, despite being a very clear recording. Tends to lock up at critical moments, too. And, yes, as another reviewer mentioned, you have to have a very quiet environment. No cars, no footsteps, no airplanes ... no human sounds at all. And it can't seem to decipher multiple birds at once. But whaddaya want for free????

A Google user

5 years ago

Holy cow! The app I've been waiting for...Shazam for birds! This app works great; I've tested it on known species (including humans ;) ) and have also used it to identify new ones. The user interface is spectacular; I love seeing the spectrograph. It is an awesome way (and fun) to visually present the acoustic signatures of the various bird types. Even when the sound is weak, the "wild guess" option still nails it or at least comes close enough. Love the app, great work, and keep it up!

loujimi47

3 years ago

I've had this app for quite a few years, but the last 3 to 4 months it has stopped identifying species calling them human or unidentifiable. It will say only a wild guess and list something totally off the wall. For instance. I know a sandhill crane has a very distinct call and app said a turkey and turned around in the next second and called it human. I have uninstalled the app and reinstall it but it has not seemed to solve the issue. I'll keep it at three stars because it used to be awesome!

Mausul Hay

3 years ago

I really love this app, it is a great learning tool for novice birders. I have just one major gripe -- the inability to choose a local file as a source. Out in the woods where you're most likely to hear birds is also the place where you're least likely to have a cellular data connection. If we could save the sound files from within the app with metadata or submit one saved by an external recorder for later analysis, I think this app would get solid 5 stars from every reviewer.

A Google user

5 years ago

I know this app is still in development, but I think it has good potential. But I'm getting inappropriate blue jays also. Keep striving, guys! Something I'd like to see added, the ability to scan a recording later. I don't always have opportunity to analyze immediately, so recording & analysis later would be great. Also, maybe a home screen widget for quick capture.

John Leonard

4 years ago

This is so cool!! This is the kind of technology I expect in the 21st century. It turns my phone into a tricorder. I didn't realize, not only does it identify the bird but it also locates the exact spot where it was observed, and adds the data to the bird count database. Using it is easy and fun too. The 3 second delay while the bird song is being analyzed is suspenseful. I recommend it on a few levels.

howard petrie

3 years ago

This app is terrific. A few small quirks, but nonetheless, i have been able to correctly identify every bird song i have fed into this app (as confirmed later by other resources). You need almost zero volume. I've been surprised at how much signal-to-noise it can tolerate. Honestly, this is one of the most useful apps i have ever downloaded. Well done!

Michael Valcarcel

3 years ago

This app has upped my game. I've been able to add several species to my life list that have been hiding in plain sight...or earshot! While there are some incorrect results, it's accuracy rate is pretty good. A must for anyone who has a heavily wooded yard. Edit: I keep having to delete my recordings due to space issues on my phone. If they could provide a "Select All" that would be super helpful.

Tracey Cash

3 years ago

Fantastic for vocal id'ing but not perfect. I wish we could submit recordings that otherwise come up incorrect. I have a lot of blue jays with calls that sound like panicking squirrels (when they're in "warning" mode), but it keeps popping up as red tailed hawk, which I can confirm, and have reported, as the wrong species. Whenever I hear a new call, I open this app for id, then do my best to visually id, and it's been spot on.

James Scout

5 years ago

This app has been surprisingly accurate so far. I would make two suggestions for this product going forward. First, there needs to be a playback feature so the user can be sure he/she recorded what they were trying to. Second,I think it would be helpful to label and save sound bites for later analysis. Often, in the field, there is no signal available to send recordings for results. I will continue to use this app when practical and look forward to future editions as testing progresses.

Dan Lahl

4 years ago

Tried this app and I dont make time to do reviews, but have to say "WOW" what an amazing app and congratulations to getting it spot on. Even its "guesses" were right on. If people have any trouble with this app, they should remember that it can only record what it can detect, and the volume of the subject bird, and/or the quality of the recording device (ie phone microphone) will affect results. I am new to birding, but I will be using this whenever I can . Very helpful! Thank you!

Edward Noack

4 years ago

I really like this app. It is very accurate identifying birds I hear on my walks. It is easy to use and you can see a graph of the birds call. I would rate it with 5 stars if the brain could be downloaded as well. After you select the part of the recording you want analyzed, the app sends it to Germany for analysis on the Birdnet computer. In a minute or 30 seconds I get a response--if I have a decent network connection. Unfortunately, many of my birding events do not have network service.

A Google user

6 years ago

I am very impressed with BirdNET! So far it has been right most of the time. BirdNET works best when I'm not too close to noise (cars, running water, wind blowing through trees). Making short selections around the birdsong of interest helps a lot, as does turning up the gain setting enough to get a clear spectrogram (but not so much that the spectrogram starts smearing vertically, which is indicative of clipping).

Rhonda Armstrong

3 years ago

It has its glitches, but for the information it provides, BirdNET can't be beat. I can't scroll through a recording, so once a sound has moved off my screen, it's lost to me. And I wish the bird info linked over to Merlin or another Cornell Bird Lab site, rather than Wikipedia. But those are minor complaints, far outweighed by the identifications I've been able to make with the apps' help. Fantastic resource!

A Google user

6 years ago

Great interface. Has trouble with unusual calls and regional song variations, which I have noticed with bluejays and carolina wrens. The app also thinks everything is a black and white warbler if it can't recognise it even when the ID isn't hard to determine. The playback button is completely broken and serves no function. Still better than any other app I've tried so far, just needs a little more development and food for the AI.

Steven Gruenwald

3 years ago

Excellent technology, incredibly useful in most conditions. The reporting of results is fast and user-friendly. Three flaws: (1) the Play button doesn't work (at least in Android), so selecting the right section of the recording to analyze is guesswork; (2) there seems to be no way to check the version number; and (3) there is no way to disable automatic identification of your location by GPS, or to select it manually, so as to detect birds that are not normally in your area.

Michael Lee

1 year ago

User Interface and app behavior is bad is for recording multiple segments. I have lost many recording samples because of it. I want to create and manage multiple recordings, but instead new recordings replace the previous track. You'll learn after many failures that you have to manually choose a segment, then save it for later. Otherwise it only saves tracks I have submitted for analysis, which costs mobile data and I want to avoid using it up in the forest.