12 NEBRASKAland • APRIL 2015
By Callie Rietfors
Rather than lug around field guides
on nature walks, lighten your load
by downloading a few useful apps to
your smartphone instead. These are
some of the best wildflower and bird
identification apps available for Apple,
Android and most tablets.
Audubon Wildflowers by Green
Mountain Digital ($4.99)
In addition to photos and descriptions
of nearly 2,000 North American
wildflowers, this app includes range
maps, sightings and NatureShare for
users to post their observations. Search
species by shape, family or name, or
by such advanced options as color,
habitat, leaf or flower. The guide also
includes additional information about
identification of wildflowers, the parts
of a flower, habitats and classification.
Wildflowers of the Great Plains
Full Version by Immersion Media
($3.99)
Browse 500 native Great Plains
species by common or scientific name,
or use the advanced search with such
options as color, height, habitat, month,
leaf or stem. The app includes photos,
detailed descriptions, a notepad,
a glossary and plant morphology
sketches. There is also a light version
of this app available at no cost, which
has 25 plant species.
Audubon Birds Pro by Green
Mountain Digital ($9.99)
Find birds with eBird by providing
your location for a listing of recent
sightings in the area, or search by
such options as family, name, habitat,
color, song or call, or locomotion.
Access range maps, images, sound
recordings, descriptions and similar
birds for 821 species. NatureShare
and additional information about bird
conservation, history, birding, plumage
and classification are also included.
Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab of
Ornithology by Cornell University
(free)
This app's 5-question ID simplifies
identification for the novice. Provide
the location and date
of sighting, size and
color of the bird, and the
bird's actions – eating at a
feeder, flying – to determine
possible species. Features
include photos, descriptions,
sound recordings and range
maps for 400 North American birds.
The Sibley eGuide to the Birds of
North America by mydigitalearth.
com ($19.99)
With more than 6,600 painted
illustrations of 813 species, this app's
filter option narrows birds by their
occurrence in your location. Use the
side-by-side comparison feature to
listen to sound recordings and view
images, descriptions and range maps of
any two species at once. Also provided
in the app are an introduction taken
from The Sibley Guide to Birds and
information about bird topography. The
free light version of this app provides
all the features of the full version for
30 species. ■
Mobile Field Guides
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