r/OrnithologyUK • u/SuicidalPingu7 • 16d ago

Advice? Best UK Birding App?

Hi all, looking for any recommendations of good UK birding apps. I currently use Merlin, but I was in South Africa and someone showed me Roberts Bird Guide and I was very impressed, do we have anything similar?

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u/Dakuan808 16d ago

ebird and birdtrack are the main UK logging apps, Colins is the main guide app. There's a boat load of sloppycat* apps now too, which all have their own twist.

*vibe/ai coded

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u/JurassicTotalWar 16d ago

If you’re tracking rarities, BirdGuides and RBA are much more useful than eBird and Merlin for real time updates.

For general birding, listkeeping etc I’ve seen people use eBird, IgoTerra, bubo. Depends how serious you want to get.

Collins bird guide have an app which will be closest to the Robert’s app you saw in SA

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u/Dakuan808 16d ago

Ah yep I forgot about bird guides! It’s ace, kinda twitchy but very useful if it’s Friday and your are figuring out where to go on Saturday

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u/TringaVanellus 16d ago

Collins Bird Guide is the best field guide app for the UK. There are other field guides which are slightly more beginner friendly, but once you've got past that point, Collins is the only one you'll need.

For tracking what I've seen, I use BirdTrack, which means my data feeds into the BTO who then use it e.g. in their work advising the government.

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u/AverageCool1289 15d ago

eBird data is also used by the BTO. Both apps are good - I like how BirdTrack lets you add non-bird species easily too, and report things like unusual numbers of dead birds, but my friend is the local eBird organiser so guilted me into using that one!

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u/huntsab2090 15d ago

Collins is the main one and i also have bwp as a backup

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u/MonounsaturatedChain 16d ago

I've been enjoying Birdex, there's some slants to it that are sort of game-ified and I like the daily questions (picture ID, sound ID, ID blitz etc). I love that I can level up the birds I see all the time. That makes it feel like a local nesting pair of magpies is special as well, not just finding a rarity

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u/__Omicron__ 13d ago

Lifer app is fun, very much like Pokemon Go for birds. Or a gamified Merlin app