9 Best Free Apps For Identifying The Birds In Your Yard

Birding is an enduringly popular pastime, but building up a mental bank of songs and visual identifiers takes years — and lots of patience. Now that we carry literal computers in our pockets wherever we go, these marvels can encourage you to launch into a hobby that might otherwise seem too daunting without some extra help. This home and garden hobby is making a comeback, and our phones are playing a big role in this movement. There are quite a few great bird identification apps out there to give you a head start into recognizing birds in your yard and beyond, either by photo, song, both, or a searchable database. The best part is that these apps are entirely free to use and available for both iPhones and Android devices. Some offer upgraded features that come with a cost, but most serve up enough winning traits that you'll hardly be tempted to spend a dime.

Smart bird feeders have revolutionized birdwatching at home, but they can also set you back a few hundred dollars. Instead, take a moment to download some of these free resources that you can pull up with a few taps on your phone. No app is perfect; photo-only apps are best for ID'ing close encounters, while sound recording apps are useful when a bird is heard but not seen.

User reviews and online forums were instrumental in choosing the apps listed here, but I also downloaded each of them to test out for myself. In addition, a more detailed methodology is provided at the end of this article. Let these resources spark a new obsession without denting your budget.

Merlin is the go-to for ornithologists of all levels, and it was created by the Cornell Lab, which further backs up its credibility. This app, which is 100% free, lets you both upload photographs and record live audio to narrow down possible bird species. Plus, it does this with better accuracy than most other similar apps. While you're recording bird songs or calls, Merlin will pick up any birds it hears and immediately display an ID. It doesn't automatically retain a list of your recordings, but there is a separate manual function to add species to your life list for free.

Another 100% free Cornell Lab creation, BirdNET was created first, and it is a sound recording app without photo scanning capabilities. While Merlin is, in some ways, an improvement over BirdNET, some bird enthusiasts find that the OG version is better at detecting certain birds. Because it is a research project, it has a lot more data available to identify more bird sounds more accurately, It makes a general recording that you can highlight at key points and let the app get to work making an ID. 

For general nature lovers who don't want to clutter their phones with too many apps, the iNaturalist app is a good choice. You can record audio and upload photos to ID through the app, but you can also upload photos from your gallery. Not only is it effective at pinpointing bird species, but it also extends its use to other creatures, plants, mushrooms, and microorganisms. While iNaturalist is more of a jack-of-all-trades app, it offers valuable resources shared by other users, like projects, site-specific guides, video tutorials, teacher resources, and a forum — all totally free.

One of the biggest benefits of having a bird feeder in your yard is getting to spy your visitors up close. Seek is a fully free, photo-only identification app that's quick, convenient, and pretty accurate. The app is made by iNaturalist, and its gamifying elements make it kid-friendly while also appealing to adults. Focus your camera at the bird pecking at your suet cake, and with a bit of repositioning and/or zooming, Seek determines what you have in front of you. Seek retains your observations as a list and reminds you if you've previously ID'd a particular species.

Perhaps the best-recognized name in the bird world, Audubon also has a 100% free app. Given the Audubon pedigree, it's worth including their app, but there are better UX apps available. Where this app stands out is its ability to use criteria like a bird's appearance, habitat, flight patterns, and song type to narrow down the particular bird you've spotted. It allows you to upload photos you've taken, but it doesn't have a sound recording feature. However, the app offers more than eight hours of audio clips to help you match songs and calls.

If determining species is all you want from a birding app, Bird Identifier Sound Call ID does exactly that. It allows you to take photos and record audio directly in the app or upload images from your gallery for analysis. Both functions require a couple of steps: Record a song or photograph/upload an image of a bird, then click "analyze" to sift through possible matches. It requires in-app purchases or a premium subscription to unlock all of its features, but it still provides at least three free identifications per day. Once it comes up with a match, the app provides a generous amount of info about the species, including characteristics, diet, habitat, and even fun facts.

The minute you open the Aboutbirds app, you see that the creators have put a lot of thought into the user experience. There's no need to search for tools; the landing page lays out all that it can do without you having to click on a menu. Aboutbirds works well without Wi-Fi, too. When it's combing through possible matches, the app provides a percentage to show its confidence that it's the correct ID among the diverse variety of birds in your yard. However, Aboutbirds requires a premium subscription to remove ads, identify unlimited birds daily, and get expert-verified bird facts.

For young users or adults motivated by challenges and achievements, BirdDex is a fun photo-only app to play with. With each observation, you reach a new level and earn a badge. If this seems like fluff, the recognition process may sell you on the app, despite its gamey aspects. Once the app processes the photo, a few possible matches pop up along with a percentage measuring the certainty of the match. You choose among them by comparing pictures of a few similar species. Do note that the unpaid version of the app only allows you five free identifications per day.

Once you've turned your yard and garden into a bird haven, open up ChirpOmatic to find out who's among your feathered guests. This visually-pleasing app only records sound, but it works quickly and with decent accuracy. There are also versions of the app for different regions of the world, like the Caribbean, Europe, and Australia. Once the app has a possible match, it shows a photo of the bird, the percentage of certainty that it's the correct bird, and lets you confirm what you heard. ChirpOmatic offers these things for free, but you'll need to buy ChirpOmatic Pro to save and export your recordings or explore their reference library.

Bird identification apps that are truly free aren't always easy to find, so the first step in sorting through the options was to download and test them myself. I did, in fact, discover that some "free" apps literally had no free features other than their downloadability. After verifying this, I tested the apps by either finding birds or songs near me or by recording songs or photos from the internet. In addition to hands-on trials, I also referred to the apps' websites, reviews on Google Play, and Reddit threads.