Bird ID™ by TapPoint® Bird ID™ by TapPoint®[Back to Description, Download, or Purchase]
Getting started and using Bird ID for Palm OS to identify and record bird species is quick and easy, as shown in the following examples.
Getting Started with your Automatic Custom Checklist
Using Search to Identify a Species
Using Lookup to Find a Species by Name
Recording a Sighting
Viewing Your Sighting List
Defining another Place
Viewing the Expected Species List for a Place
Another Search Example
A Quick Lookup of a Known Species
Viewing All Sightings at a Place
Viewing All Sightings at All Places -- My "Life
List"
Synchronizing Sightings with Bird ID for Windows
| When Bird ID starts for the first time, you simply select your preferred field guide book for species page number references and then tap on your home location on the map. |  |
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| Now you have your custom bird species checklist automatically generated for your location. Here the location is the Sacramento, California area, and Bird ID knows that 268 different species are expected there (out of 805 total in the covered area of North America). Each species is referenced with a page number in your chosen field guide. |  |
| I
saw a bird that looked mostly blue and gray today, and I'm not sure what
it was. I tap on the Search button and fill in what I observed in
the Search form.
Bird ID reports that there are nine species in my area that match closely to my criteria. The icons next to the species names indicate the relative abundance of the species, and page numbers in my chosen field guide are given where I can look for pictures. |
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| Tapping
on a bird in the list gives species details including common, Latin, and
obsolete names, relative abundance, length, guide book page number,
appearance and taxonomy groups, expected occurrence (e.g.
"Year-round") at my location, and a list of species variations
with a color bar showing the approximate colors for the selected
variation.
The Range button leads to a full color range map showing the species range with seasonal indications. |
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The best matches for my search are at the top of the list, but a little further down I see an entry for "Lazuli Bunting", which doesn't list gray as a color, but the overall color scheme is similar to my search.
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| Instead
of using the Search feature to find a species, perhaps I think the blue
and gray bird I saw was some kind of Jay, so I can use the Lookup feature
to find it. I tap the Lookup button, enter "jay", and tap
OK.
Bird ID reports that there are ten species matching "jay": two are common in my area, one is rare, and seven are unexpected in my area. |
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| Using
Lookup does not require knowing the first part of the species name.
Perhaps I am trying to remember a species name that is a "blue"
something or other...
Lookup reports 19 species with "blue" in their name, although only six are expected in my area (three common and three uncommon).
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| I
wonder why Blue Jay is listed as unexpected (red "X"), as I
thought my blue and gray bird might be a Blue Jay. Tapping on Blue
Jay and then tapping Range to get the range map shows that this is only an
eastern bird, which is also why it was not listed by the Search feature.
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| After
using Search or/or Lookup, and then consulting the pictures and habitat descriptions in my guide book, I
determine that the blue and gray bird I saw was a Lazuli Bunting. I can record a sighting
of this bird by tapping on the bird in the list and then tapping the Add
Sighting button.
In the Add Sighting dialog, I can add a text note to the sighting if I wish.
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| I
can view the list of species that I have recorded sightings for by tapping
on the Checklists button from the species list. Selecting the Today
button in the Checklists dialog will show me all of the species with
sightings recorded today.
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| Selecting
the All Sightings button in the Checklists dialog will show me all of the
species with sightings recorded at the selected place.
I can also choose various display items for the right hand column, here I am showing the last date seen for each species.
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| You can define multiple places using Bird ID, and each will have its own checklist and sightings list. To define a new place, I can pick the Edit Places item from the menu (or from the bottom of a place list dropdown). This brings up the Edit Places dialog, which lists all of the places I have defined (currently just "Home"). |  |
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| I am
taking a trip to Denver and will be taking my Palm device with me in case
I can do some bird watching on the side.
I tap on the New button in the Edit Places dialog, which brings up the Edit Place dialog, where I simply tap on the location on the map, enter the name "Denver" for it, and tap OK. The Edit Places dialog now shows my two defined places. |
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| On
the plane on the way to Denver, I decide to browse the list of species I
could expect to see there. To get the expected species list for
Denver, I simply tap the Checklists button, then in the Checklists dialog
I select "Denver" for the place and tap the Expected button
I see that 258 species are expected in Denver, and that I have not recorded a sighting for any of them in Denver yet. |
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| Browsing the list, I happen to see "Baltimore Oriole". Do they really have Baltimore Orioles in Denver? I tap on the entry in the list and see from the species details that the range occurrence is listed "Migration at Denver". Tapping on the Range button to get the range map, I see, sure enough, the Baltimore Oriole's migration range just barely crosses through Denver. So this would be a possible but lucky sighting. |  |
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| At
my hotel in Denver, I notice a few small yellow and black birds. I
use Search to identify them, making sure that the place is set to Denver,
and here I select 3-5" (or similar to Hummingbird size) for the
Length to further narrow the search.
I decide the bird is an American Goldfinch and record a sighting for it. |
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| After recording the sighting, I return to the expected checklist for Denver and I see that American Goldfinch has a checkmark by it, indicating that a sighting is recorded for it. | |
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| Also
at my hotel in Denver, I see a bird that I immediately recognize to be a
Spotted Towhee. To record a sighting for it, I need to find the
species in Bird ID first.
Using Lookup, I can quickly find "Spotted Towhee" by entering the first few letters from one or two words in the species name. I enter "sp t" and find it quickly. I tap on Spotted Towhee and record a sighting for it. |
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| Alas,
I was stuck inside for the rest of my trip to Denver and had no more time
for bird watching...
I can easily view all the sightings I made at a place by tapping the Checklists button, selecting the place and tapping All Sightings. Here I see the two species that I recorded sightings for in Denver. |
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| Each
place I define in Bird ID will have its own checklist and keep its own
sightings list, but I can also search for, lookup, and view checklists and
sightings lists for all places at once by using the special
"(Any)" place.
Using the All Sightings button in the Checklists dialog with the place set to "(Any)" shows all of the sightings I have made at any place. This is my birding "Life List", and here shows both my Home and Denver sightings. |
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| By
tapping on a species and then tapping Edit Sightings, I can see a list of
all the sightings recorded for that species. Here I see that
American Goldfinch has only the one sighting in Denver, but Spotted Towhee
has the Denver sighting as well as a sighting made at Home.
Here I can use the Edit button to view more details on a sighting or change it if necessary, and the New and Delete buttons to add and delete sightings. |
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Once back from my trip, I can also HotSync my Palm device with my desktop computer, which will copy all of my new sightings to Bird ID™ for Windows, as well as update my Palm device with any new sightings I made at the desktop since my last HotSync. I can view and edit all of my sightings in both places.
Species Range Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Robert Ridgely, James Zook, The Nature Conservancy - Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International - CABS, World Wildlife Fund - US, and Environment Canada – WILDSPACE. Range Data Compilation © 2005 NatureServe
Bird
ID is a trademark of TapPoint, LLC.
TapPoint is a registered trademark of TapPoint, LLC.
Palm OS is a registered trademark of Palm, Inc.
© 2005-2008 TapPoint, LLC. All Rights Reserved.