The Sibley eGuide App Reviews

I was alreday using the iBird Pro which is very user friendly along with the Aububon. Each of the previous offer their plus and minus. It is possible to display two birds at the same time to compare them or to get lists of birds by province or state as you travel outside of Quebec.

So far the Sibleys app for iPhone and iPod Touch is pleasantly easy to used and is as comprehensive as his time-tested field guide. The added library of bird calls adds significantly to this useful electronic field tool. It would be nice if a selected grouping of species could be compared in succession. The only frustration is the limited list making capabilities of this app. Since the i-Apple platform is proving so successful for equipping hand-held devices in the field, it stands to reason that a comprehensive list-making app with export capabilities should be readily available. The question is, will this Sibleys app accomodate it with an update NOW? Or will somebody else sweep away the market? Its time to act.

really good ... especially the bird song audio, 3 or 4 different bird songs for most birds to help with identification ... also good illustrations and maps.. well worth it

I find that iBird Explorer is much nicer than the Sibley guide. IBird has better, more detailed drawings, and more information. Also, there is a glitch in Sibleys note function: it automatically records the date on which you write the note, but that is not necessarily the date on which you saw the bird... I changed the date and saved but it went back to the wrong date anyway...

Probably the best bird guide app for North America. The vocalizations section is comprehensive in addition to the complete descriptions and sketches of each species making the app a very valuable tool in the field.

The Smart Search and Compare functions on this app make it worth the price by themselves. I find the search works much better than iBird Explorer or even Peterson. Always the first eGuide I reference, it has all the best features of the paper version (like arrows point out field marks) and songs and calls for almost every bird. In "compare" you can even listen to both birds in question at once.

this app does everything you want it to do with no complaints wrt quality and functionality the only issue is that it is so large, that upgrades/downloads can be a problem. If your internet provider charges by the gb, each upgrade chews up a half gig and can take over an hour to download. if you are not impacted by the bug this release fixes, the benefit of the download is negligible

I just bought this, and its already really handy! there are multiple calls/songs for each bird, most of which describe what the call kind of means ( like if its an alarm call/ mating call). not every single bird has a call tho. The pictures are very clear and accurate as well. One of my favourite parts to this app is the comparison. you can select any two birds and compare the way they look and their calls on the same page. its a very useful field guide! The layout is very easy to use. You can either browse birds alphabetically or taxonomical order, or you can search birds by their features, location and type all on the same screen. there is anther feature that lets you keep record of which birds you have seen, pretty neat! I think the only problem is that I cant use (obviously) it if my phone dies out in the field, and iPhones seem to die pretty fast when an app is being used. I cant wait to get out and use it more!

Having used all the bird guides for NA (iBird, National Geographic, Peterson and Audubon) the Sibley guide is simply the best for identifying birds. His illustrations contain a wealth of information; every little detail, whether or not it has caption, relates to an actual identifying characteristic of the bird in question. Sibleys illustrations are the best at portraying the general shape, posture and expression of the bird, aspects that are often more important then color in identifying a species. Not only are the illustrations superb, this guide has more of them per species then any other guide, showing different ages, plumages and differences between the sexes. It is also the only guide to illustrate every species in flight, a feature that is very useful. Another feature that is unique is the ability to compare two species side by side which helps immensely in making a final identification. Sibleys may not have all the rare and accidental species that NG has, and its search feature is not as advanced as iBird, but it still is the best at helping you make a positive identification.

Print edition is arguably the best North American birding field guide (though its huge and heavy), and the ios app is an excellent rendition. Great audio library and very good ipad interface. Regular updates to the content make this better value than the book.

Very well done. The smart search, great variety of pictures, and song recordings all without needing a connection is great. But for 20$, it could use a couple extra features. A checklist visible while scrolling through the index, or at least while viewing the species individual page would be very helpful, as well as being able to increase the thumbnail size in the index. Until then, no 5 stars

Very well designed and useful app. The ability to compare two similar species is a particularly useful feature. A "smart search" capability is a very tough thing to implement effectively because there are so many variables that could be included; this one seems to be a reasonable compromise between comprehensiveness and practicality. Overall I was very impressed.

App is OK because it has the content from Sibley and has finally updated to iOS 7 look and feel after waiting more than a year. Unfortunately the pictures as still low resolution non-retina so are pixelated and forget about trying to zoom in on details. Three stars because it is easier than hauling the book around but hoping a new release with hi res pictures and more improvements can make increase the stars on my next review.

This app is somewhat helpful but the search mechanism is really quite poor – very basic.

I love this app, its a bit pricy but its easier then bringing my hard copy field guid out into the bush. Ive IDed 100s of different species with ease while using this guide. You can also listen to bird songs to further help ID ( not recommended while out in the field )

The app is great but the daily count is missing. Also I think the search function should auto complete with suggestions of different birds. You should be able to type a partial name and have it pop up. I am also deeply disappointed that my bird list is not saved in the cloud so when somehow my app got deleted my list was gone:(

But puzzling that a perched eastern Red-tailed Hawk is not shown. Only in flight? I use this app every time I bird and wish it was more comprehensive. A very good app that could be great with a few important fixes.

This app, while having a lot of data, is terribly out of date. Hasnt been updated before iPhone 6. The interface isnt helpful and searching only makes things worse. Unusable in my opinion.

What sets this apart from the other illustrated bird apps is the number of excellent illustrations and bird songs. The included information is comprehensive, as well. However, the plain text (no illustrations) of birds in what functions as a table of contents, makes finding what you are looking for difficult unless you already know. Therefore I never refer to it in the field. If it remedies this, it could replace iBird, but Audubons unique features and Petersons ease of us keep them among my most-used birding apps.

I enjoy this app , mostly the compare 2 different bird at same time. When it comes to calling in birds, I sure would like to see added to this app a snippet of 3to5 birds on one call, like warblers robins added, etc. It sure would be less stressful on birds. I was on hike and this is what guide used, he made his own! And it worked!