Sibley Birds v2 app

As long as your new device is on the same platform as your previous phone (e.g. iPhone and iPad both run iOS) and you are signed in to the appropriate app store with the same ID, you will be able to download any previously purchased apps to any new devices. The app is not transferable to a new operating system, so if you switch from iPhone to Android, for example, your previous purchases in the Apple App store will not be available for your new Android phone, or vice versa. In that case, unfortunately, you would need to pay for the app again.

And if none of that works you can send me an email through the “contact” link in the header.

If you are trying to reinstall the original V1 version of the app (before 2018), it is no longer maintained and no longer listed in the app store, but if you had purchased it and want to restore it on a current phone the instructions are the same as above. More details here:

I had the original Sibley eGuide to Birds App (v1), but now it’s gone from the App Store, where can I find it?

Each species in the app includes a list of similar species. You can quickly compare any of these with a few simple steps.

Use the preloaded “Similar Species” list

• Start by selecting any species
• tap on the “merging arrow” icon at the bottom right of the species’ screen to open a list of similar species
• select any of those species to see a comparison

Swiping left or right will move to the previous or next species in the “Similar species” list, and not to any other species.

To create your own comparison (not one of the “Similar species”)

To create a comparison between any two species outside of the listed similar species, follow these steps.

• Start from any of the list screens (Taxonomic Index, Alphabetic Index, or Smart Search results).
• Tap the merging arrow icon at the top right, which will allow you to select any two species for a side-by-side comparison.

Swiping left or right will move to the previous or next species in the list that you started from, Taxonomic, Alphabetic, or Smart Search, as filtered for location and/or month.

Check out my in-depth discussion of this issue. Playback is a disturbance to birds and to other birders. It should be used as little as possible, especially in popular birding spots and places where other birders are present. It is illegal in many parks and refuges, and it is illegal to disturb any threatened or endangered species. If you do use it, be very sensitive to the birds and to any nearby birders. keep the volume low and play just a few short snippets of sound, then watch and wait.

No, this is a universal app and works on both phones and tablets. As long as the devices are on the same platform (e.g. iPhone and iPad both run iOS) and both devices are signed in to the app store with the same ID, you will be able to pay once and download and use the app on all of those devices.

Because the original app is no longer being supported it could cease to function with any update of the operating system of your phone. If you continue using it, be sure to regularly back up any list data that you keep in the app. See my blog post here.

If you want to reinstall the first edition Sibley eGuide app on your device, you will discover that it is no longer listed in the app store. You can still find it in your purchase history.

With the release of the new second edition of the app in 2018, the first edition is no longer being supported or sold, and has been removed from the catalog in the app store. It is still available for download to anyone who already owned it. Simply log in to your app store account and view your “purchased” apps. The Sibley eGuide to Birds v1 should show up there and be available for download.

And if none of that works you can send me an email through the “contact” link in the header.

You can find a key to the range map colors inside the front cover of the bird guides. An easy way to remember the color scheme is that red (warm color) means summer range, blue (cool color) means winter range. Where birds are resident (summer and winter) the two colors combine to make purple. Yellow indicates areas where the species is found only on migration, and drab olive-gray indicates areas where the species occurs only as a rare visitor.

No. Only species found in the continental US and Canada (north of Mexico) are included. Additional species found in Hawaii, Mexico, the Bahamas, etc. are not included in the Sibley Guide to Birds.

Each species in the app includes a list of similar species. You can quickly compare any of these with a few simple steps.

Use the preloaded “Similar Species” list

• Start by selecting any species
• tap on the “merging arrow” icon at the bottom right of the species’ screen to open a list of similar species
• select any of those species to see a comparison

Swiping left or right will move to the previous or next species in the “Similar species” list, and not to any other species.

To create your own comparison (not one of the “Similar species”)

To create a comparison between any two species outside of the listed similar species, follow these steps.

• Start from any of the list screens (Taxonomic Index, Alphabetic Index, or Smart Search results).
• Tap the merging arrow icon at the top right, which will allow you to select any two species for a side-by-side comparison.

Swiping left or right will move to the previous or next species in the list that you started from, Taxonomic, Alphabetic, or Smart Search, as filtered for location and/or month.

There are five levels of status used to indicate the likelihood of encountering a species in a given state or province. The first three categories are used for regularly occurring species that are reliably present in appropriate season and habitat. The last two categories are used for species that are not always present and not expected, even in prime habitat and season.

C   Common – Common, numerous, expected on every outing, although this might only be true in part of the selected state or province.

U   Uncommon/Local – Uncommon, Scarce or local, generally present and expected, but not necessarily seen on each outing and/or takes some extra effort to locate and/or expected only in a small part of the selected state or province.

S   Scarce/Very local – Occasional, or very local, not always present (or present in very small numbers in limited area) but still more or less expected and predictable in occurrence. Scarce/local breeders can generally be found readily by traveling to a known location. Scarce/local migrants take luck and/or extra effort to locate, and are worth mentioning to other birders.

R   Rare – not always present, recorded annually but only a few times a year or less, averaging more than one a year in recent years; occurrence may be predictable to some extent, but not reliable. Always worth reporting to other birders, and should be documented with photos and notes.

V   Very rare– Extremely rare, accidental; fewer than ten records (or no records) in the last 20 years or so; many years may pass without a confirmed record. You are very unlikely to find these species. These should be carefully documented with photos and notes, and are always worth reporting to other birders as quickly as possible.

Nothing. These are two entirely separate apps and you can keep both on your device. Note that each one is over 500 MB in size, so keeping both will occupy a lot of storage on your device.

No, there is no difference in the function of the v2 app between Android or Apple (or Amazon or Windows PC\Tablet – coming soon). There are differences in styling due to underlying differences in the operating systems, and different layouts on different screen sizes, but the features of the app are identical in all cases.

The new v2 app is currently (Apr 2019) available for devices running iOS (Apple) and Android. A version for Amazon devices should be available in April 2019, and a version for Windows PC/Tablet is expected in June 2019. New Blackberry devices run Android and can install that version of the app. The v2 app is not available for older Blackberry devices running the Blackberry operating system. The v2 app will not be available for Windows Phone OS.

No. Once the app is installed on your device it does not require any connection. All of the data, images, and sounds are stored in the device’s memory and will work without any internet connection.