(not rated)
by Cindy O'HoraThe ultimate electronic guide to birds
Have you ever seen a flash of color outside your window and wondered what it was? Heard a cheerful call but been unable to see the bird? Here is a birding CD for every birder from newbie to expert.
North American birds offers over 2400 illustrations (largely drawings) of almost 700 birds. It also offers 450 bird songs. Navigation through out the product is easy thanks to the labeled buttons on each screen. An interactive tutorial will get you started using the CD in no time.
The CD offers several strategies for learning to recognize birds. If you are a new birder the CD will aid you in learning to recognize common birds of your North American backyard. This first set of birds teaches you to recognize cardinal, chickadee, crow, mockingbird, robin, and more. Their songs repeat themselves as you consider which bird it is.
If you have some experience birding, let the 
Flash Game help you evaluate your skill. While playing this game I repeatedly erred in distinguishing between the Black Capped Chickadee and the Carolina Chickadee. I took a quick trip to the index. I looked up Blacked Capped and saw a picture and heard the song. The text offered a hint about distinguishing it from the Carolina Chickadee. I clicked on Carolina in the box and a picture of the Carolina opened next to the picture of the Black Capped. Ahh, the wing bars. Now I get it!
Those of us in the mid experience range will find a challenge as the game adds pictures of females and immature birds. If you need to tune up on a certain group like Sparrows then play the game with them as a focus. For you expects play the game with only the songs.
The more experienced birder will appreciate the Print a List feature. It will provide a bird list for any state or province in North America. There is even a life list area where all the birds are entered by group. You can enter your pertinent data of date and location of your citing. You'll be pleased when it provides a report of how many birds you have seen in each group and how many species you've seen totally.
In each section, there is a help button which launches an audio presentation of use, customizing and helpful hints. The presenter has a friendly down to earth style which is very inviting. The only drawback I see is there are only printed instructions for installation. The hearing impaired user would not be able to access the directions.
The index will take you quickly through the bird manual section. The ease of comparing birds is really remarkable. The Show Looks button provides some text guidance in identifying the bird. Look-a-likes are given with advice on telling them apart. Just click on the hypertext name and you'll see a picture of the look-a-like bird next to the one you are researching. You can even enlarge the picture by clicking on it one time. The Song button makes it easy to hear the bird's call repeated.
Are you planning to give a presentation about birds? You can use the slide show feature to create a custom show that provides pictures and songs. Teachers will appreciate the password protection which allows you to customize what birds your students view and keeps them within the program.
I have been birding for twenty years. I have looked at several multimedia bird products and this one is by far the best. It is an ideal resource for birders, schools, parks, nature centers and wildlife educators.
 SRP: $25 (order directly via phone) |