Shazam for bird calls is a compelling sales pitch, and a difficult technical proposition.
The results were impressive.
Some recordings isolate the featured bird, while some include background birdsong from other species.
Recognizing recordings isnt the same as identifying an unknown bird in the wild.
This isnt a comprehensive test of the considered apps, but a rough demo.
In the field, your mileage will vary.
So an app that can recognize calls through a recording is doubly useful.
Results
Among our four apps, we got at least one correct guess on all seven recordings.
Three apps performed well, but on different birds.
Three of our four apps performed fairly well.
Once you get a recording of your bird, you might want to run it by all three.
As soon as Song Sleuth boots up, it starts capturing sound, displaying it on a spectrogram.
You dont have to anticipate the bird call.
Instead, hit record shortlyafterthe call starts, then stop when you have enough.
Remember to delete long recordings to save space.
The editing process is a bit complicated but still intuitive enough to figure out without a tutorial.
The database also provides more sound samples, plus distribution maps, images, and descriptions.
you’re free to also edit, export, or share your past entries.
you’re able to even re-analyze an older recording.
Tap again to stop recording, or let it record the maximum 12 seconds.
Once youve found the right bird, you might confirm it (and return to it later).
Youll also need Chirp!
to check out the full database of birds if ChirpOMatics guesses are all incorrect.
Theres no map view either.
ChirpOMatic includes a bird-safe silent mode to avoid playing recordings out loud and confusing the real birds around you.
In our unscientific test, ChirpOMatic eventually guessed every bird species, though sometimes it took a few tries.
It couldnt recognize anything thats not a bird, which only matters if youre IDing on sound alone.
ChirpOMatic regularly updates its databases with new birds, so youll keep getting your moneys worth.
Bird Song Id, which comes in US and UK flavors, has an ugly but functional interface.
attempt to get at least 30 seconds of birdsong.
When youre done recording, hit stop, then Automatic Recognition.
The app has a strong results page, which includes a confidence score for each possible bird.
you’re able to play samples of the possible birds right from the results.
The My Recordings section displays your previous recordings by date or on a map.
Again, the interface is ugly but data-rich.
SongBird($9.99 iOS, deleted)
Pigeon droppings.A lesson in researching before buying.
The app contained no bird information, just a recording screen.
If it wasnt a scam, it was the worst-built app weve ever seen.
(Apple refunded our ten bucks after a polite email.)
Conclusions
If you pick just one app to identify bird calls, make it Song Sleuth.
Its automatic recording, sophisticated editing interface, and comprehensive bird database make it the strongest all-around tool.
Its just $14 for all threenot a bad price to feel like Snow White communing with the bluebirds.
Detecting bird sounds is a very challenging task for a computer, one that no app can do perfectly.
Remember not to play your bird sounds out loud while youre capturing audio.
Dont be a dick to birds.
