Upstate New York University Offers Amazing Bird Identifying App

Whether you live in the country and want to identify the birds in your own backyard, or you’re a nature lover who loves being among birds while out for a walk or hike, you need to try the BirdNET app from Cornell University.

My family has a clear bird feeder affixed to the outside of our kitchen window so that we can watch birds from inside our house and for the longest time, there was a little bird who made a huge racket like he was trying to peck the plastic stand right off the feeder.

We had no idea what kind of a bird he was until my husband downloaded a few different bird-identifying apps and it was the BirdNet app from Cornell that was the one to identify the bird, finally.

It turned out there was a good reason for all of the bird feeder pecking because the little guy in our window was a Downy Woodpecker. Most people think of woodpeckers looking like Woody the Woodpecker from the cartoons but the Downy Woodpecker is black and white and pretty tiny.

The BirdNET app is free to use, and it comes equipped with a database containing more than 3,000 bird species, making it a helpful guide for identifying birds based on their songs. It's a simple tool - you only need to open the app, and head out into nature.

Whenever you come across a beautiful bird you haven't seen before, all you have to do is hit the record button, and the app does the rest. It analyzes the song and works its magic, giving you a list of possible bird species you might have encountered.

Get our free mobile app

Whether you're a seasoned birder or a newbie anxious to learn more about nature, the BirdNET app is the perfect companion to take with you wherever you go!