Rough-legged Hawk |
The following is a summary of information about Bird Sound and Multimedia CD-ROMs relating to North American birding received in response to a request on ONTBIRDS made in 1999.
Wherever possible the version number of the product being discussed is given.
OFO makes no representation about the quality of any CD-ROM. The comments given are those of the contributors named, and should not be attributed to OFO.
Creative Multimedia Corporation, ISBN 1-880428-01-6. “The complete Octavo edition of John James Audubon‘s Birds ... reproduced in exact detail ... with original paintings... complete text... enhanced with bird calls provided courtesy of the Cornell Laboratory...” (multimedia)
Thayer Birding Software (multimedia). Their website is here.
Thayer‘s is good value as it has numerous photos representing at least 800 species, range maps, and bird songs, in addition to quizzes and fairly decent text. I could be biased, since 40 of my own photos were used for the CD-ROM (most in the Birds of the World sampler section).
When I was looking for CDs on bird identification, quiz, and reporting, I found the Thayer Birding Software to meet my requirements the best. The two CDs are Birds Of North America - bird identification, photos, videos, The Birder‘s Handbook, Sibley‘s Birds of the World. This also includes quizzes showing photos, maps and calls. There is also an Avian Jukebox that plays bird calls in quiz format. Cost $97.74 including taxes. Birder‘s Diary records sightings, observations, etc. Checklists for each province and state as well as country, ABA region, World, etc. One can create custom checklists. This program automatically cross references with the Birds of North America if it is installed. Cost $174.49 including taxes. I‘m very satisfied with the Thayer‘s programs and use them all the time. I have found the quiz programs of the Birder‘s Diary to be very helpful in learning the various bird songs and calls.
Thayer Birding Software is an EXCELLENT (albeit expensive - $110.00 range) CD ROM. There is one problem with it, which I don‘t know if they‘ve fixed with a newer version: it exits when you try to get at the range maps sometimes (I‘m sure this is a bug). This CD ROM has numerous features including actual samples of ALL bird calls, which has really helped me with my birding.
Thayer‘s 1994 edition is a bit like a field guide with basic information, very basic, on each bird. The part that I like the best is that each photograph has a bird call with it. (Now if I could only convince the birds to use that particular call when I see them!) There is also other information re hot spots, birding ethics, binoculars and scopes, bird tour lists, book lists, magazine lists, etc. Over all, in spite of all the information I was a bit disappointed in the CD-ROM. I was expecting a bit more information.
Thayer‘s version 1 is very slow to operate, is photographs only and had a cumbersome interface. I have not seen version 2, but was so disappointed with version 1 that I saw no reason to give them any more money. It does, however, come with some pretty decent listing software (which is extra); w/o listing software, this package is about $100 Canadian. Version 1 has over 1000 photos and 550 songs. Not sure about version 2.
I‘ve found Thayer‘s Birding Software easy to use and very satisfactory. I use it mostly for keeping records, but the pictures, songs, and quizzes are fun.
We downloaded the Thayer update (BNA version 2.03) several months later. I love it. I bought it to help me put song together with visual identification. Also I had some birds in the area which did not show themselves, and it helped me there too. I'm pretty sure as a result that I have cuckoos in the yard. The pictures are excellent and the many quizzes have provided hours of enjoyment.
I am quite pleased with Thayer‘s CD. Excellent photos (several of each species, age, sex, etc), including distribution maps, BBS maps, CBC maps, and some video clips. Includes 2,700 photos, 1,200 songs and calls, Birder‘s Handbook (electronic version), 250 birding quizzes, plus state/province checklists and other information of interest to birders. I have version n 2.0, which cost $65 (US). There‘s a newer version, I believe, for a bit more, but still reasonable considering the volume of content. I would recommend Thayer‘s CD without hesitation.
I have both the Thayer‘s Version 2.5 and the Peterson CDs. Thayer‘s retails for $125, while you should be able to get the Peterson for $49 at most stores - e.g. Chapters. The Thayer‘s is quite a bit more detailed and has more options such as videos and their quiz package is better than the Peterson. There are many more pictures in the Thayer‘s - breeding, non-breeding and juvenile. Birders that I know in the Ottawa-Hull area prefer the Thayer‘s.
I have the Thayer‘s CD. When I was first researching, about 2 years ago, I found this one had a great deal over the closest competition such as Peterson‘s etc. There is an update, I think, which has even more stuff. The price was good as I got it on sale, it‘s always best to shop around as there is great mark-up on these things, and I find that buying American products such as this in Canada is usually cheaper, unless you can get a real clearance deal in the USA. Features include nice pictures of most of the North American birds - 917 species, over 2700 pictures of males, females, immatures, winter plumages, etc. when available. Some are under covered but not many. Even gulls and shorebirds are quite well done. The photos that have been scanned are usually great but some are not crisp, especially the background, but that may be my computer. It loads start-up material so it doesn't fill your computer, i.e. it calls up things from the CD. There is a ton of info about all the birds, in fact it has a copy of the Birders Handbook by Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye, that you can call up to learn more about the birds, especially details on plumage and behaviour. You probably already have a copy of that, but the computer gives the references instantly.
Songs of most species (695) are included; there are 1200 songs, calls etc., repeated several times, from Cornell. Until I got a CD with just bird songs, this was my best source to remind myself of bird song. You are looking at the birds while you hear them, which I always did to learn the species, before such things as CD-ROMs existed. You can do side-by-side comparisons of species to compare them for features. This has helped a number of times. Other features: bird quizzes that are fun; 100 best birding locations are listed with some info; 63 state/province checklists, now a bit outdated, that can be printed out; the Joy of Birding section has bird clubs listed, reviews of binoculars, scopes, etc. (which may be outdated); action videos of many species which at times are jumpy on my slow computer; a zoom feature allowing close-up of parts of the bird, too close in some cases; fairly complete range maps for summer, winter, etc.; a birds of the world feature with quite a few pictures of world birds, just to tempt you to world travel.
The whole thing works fairly quickly in a Windows clickable form. All in all it was way above most stuff and I still haven‘t bought anything new that I have seen. I may have wished to have the updated version but your e-mail reminded me that maybe I could contact the Thayer webpage to see about downloadable upgrades for mine. This is great for new birders especially but I have found it fun and useful on lots of occasions.
My use of CD-ROM is virtually restricted to Thayer‘s Version 2.0, so I usually leave it installed. I sometimes participate in the Bird Quiz, which runs for about an hour. It‘s a good refresher and a good challenge. In my opinion, it is very well done. In addition to the Bird Quiz, three or four other icons appear on my opening screen but do not seem to be operative, I believe that T hayer intended to produce more programmes but have not learned that he followed through.
I use Thayer‘s v2.0 (there is a newer version, which I haven't picked up yet). ... Before I bought BNA, I asked the same question you have asked on rec.birds and the general consensus was that Thayer‘s BNA was the best, but of course, this was as hotly contested as the question “which is the best field guide?” Thayer‘s has songs and multiple pictures for each species, as well as identifying tips, range maps for summer and winter, and even video clips for a few of the species. It has been my experience that I only use the CD-ROM as a reference for the bird calls and songs, but it is still fun to browse through. You may want to check out their website for additional information.
I bought Thayer‘s CD-ROM (895 birds seen north of Mexico listed with their calls and the usual info) some 4 years ago. I found it helpful at that time but have not booted it up for about 2 years so not able to say if it is up-to-date.
The Thayer‘s CD allows for comparisons where the Peterson, which I also have, does not. The listing on Thayer‘s is not as good as Peterson but on the whole I would choose Thayer‘s.
I bought Thayer‘s in 1998 after seeing it at Pt. Pelee. We were planning a trip out west that summer and I thought it would be good for helping me learn the song of some of prairie species. I have found it quite helpful with learning songs and the quizzes have also been great for learning songs. I must say that I find books to be a better source of information and the plates in bird guides seem to highlight the bird better. I paid $99.00 for it and do not regret it. Whenever I‘m going away somewhere I look up all the species that I may encounter that I‘m not familiar with and make a recording of their songs. The quality of the pictures goes from great in some cases to pretty mediocre in others. Thayer‘s has a webpage where you can get upgrades and other new information which is also helpful and well organized.
AXIA (multimedia)
Birds of Prey, volume two, is the best CD-ROM that I have in that it has paintings, photographs, and videos of hawks in sitting and flying conditions. It has a split screen so one can see two species at once to compare, and lots of information about locations, feeding, etc on each hawk.
by Monte Brigham Canadian Museum of Nature, 6 CD set (sounds only)
Brigham‘s is the CD set that I use the most. It is just audio but by using the computer to play it, one can choose what bird or birds to listen to with the play list. Monty Brigham has included a lot of different songs for each bird and by using the CD one can choose one bird (or two or three or...) and set them to repeat so one can listen again and again.
keyed to the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (sounds only)
I find the National Geographic “Bird Sounds” very useful when used in conjunction with their Field Guide.
His website is here.
Birdstar is a Canadian product - my CD. It's an expert system. It actually asks you questions in the Advisor section about what you see; location, time of year, size, field marks, even behaviour. Or simply name the bird and see and hear it.
Birdstar costs $49.95 Canadian Dollars ($35 for current OFO members). I have added many revisions and more components to Birdstar especially the SongGAME and SongJIZZ components that have been well received for learning bird songs. I have also added many of my own photographs. Ordering information is on the web site.
Another CD to consider is Larry Bond‘s BIRDSTAR. It is quite good at sorting when a species identification may be in doubt. He does this through a series of questions. It is simple and very user friendly.
AXIA (multimedia)
Common Bird Songs is a nice looking (if somewhat older) program. There are a series of these titles from Axia including Hawks, and a few others (I forget at the moment). It runs a bit slowly, and doesn‘t include all birdsong, but for learning birdsong it‘s pretty good. There are even quizzes you can take which help to hone your skills. One thing I like is that you can make your own groups of songs (i.e. group different birdsongs together). This is handy because to me, a robin sounds a lot like a wood thrush, but no one else would agree with me! So I can group it together and compare them.
National Audubon Society (multimedia)
I have had the Audubon CD-ROM for a couple of years. I bought it mostly for the songs, and it has a lot of them, but many sound distorted to me. It also has the disadvantage of not being keyboard-friendly and, when the volume is up to hear the songs there is an annoying click every time you move to a new page. But it has good features--fine photos, text of two different Audubon field guides, etc. Overall I would recommend you look around for something else.
National Audubon‘s is also a nice package. It‘s a little cumbersome and a little slow, but it contains 723 birds and 700 songs. Has some limited video footage, range maps, a cheesy life list (I recommend keeping your own). However, its photos are good and it often has more than one per bird.
National Audubon‘s CD has great bird calls on it. I was able to id the call of a Cave Swallow here in Toronto earlier this summer with this CD. If I hadn‘t had it right with me that day I would not have id‘d that bird.
I purchased National Audubon‘s CD about 2 years ago and haven‘t used it after the first couple of months. It has some interesting features including some quizzes but is woefully inadequate in terms of keeping lists. It has no provision for making change in the master list for North America and is very clumsy in what is available. I would not recommend it.
National Audubon‘s quality isn‘t tops, but it‘s ok for learning, and it‘s the only one that I know of for Mac owners. It runs on PCs with Windows 3.1 or 95 and Macintosh.
Natureware (multimedia)
Natureware‘s CD is described as an integrated system for learning birds. 2400 illustrations, 450 bird songs, games, quizzes, tutorials, lifelists, checklists, and more for both Mac & Windows. Comment: I need something more advanced, more flexible.
(sound only)
The Eastern/Central Bird Songs is 74 minutes of good reproduction. Clearer and sharper than the tapes. I guess with the new hand-held CDs, it might be a great thing to carry. It has 36 warbler species and 5 Vireos, including Bell's and Black-capped, and in most cases, one to several regional songs. I don‘t know the retail price (I found mine at 1/2 price), but it isn‘t cheap.
(multimedia)
I recently purchased the Peterson Multimedia Guide at the World‘s Biggest Bookstore downtown. It was only $49.95, which is relatively inexpensive for a multimedia product of this type (it is advertised at $69.95 US). It is basically a presentation of the art and information available in the field guides covering North America. There has been some (overdue) updating, for example of range information, and it is nice to have field photographs alongside the Peterson schematic drawings. The big plus is having recordings of songs and calls for about 700 of the 1000 or so listed species. As far I can tell at this stage that includes all of the resident species but excludes the accidentals and exotics. I am surprised that the guide does not make more use of the video capabilities of the format. There are a couple of talks by Peterson and one or two other bits, but it would have been good to include video of important behavioural characteristics that are diagnostic in the field. I am a pretty complete beginner over here (I learned my birding skills in the UK), and having no experienced birders among my friends as of yet am having to pick things up slowly and with a number of mistakes. There are a couple of identification games that are kind of fun for the kids, but a little easy for even a birder of very moderate skills. It kept awarding me advanced range scores. It has been interesting for the kids who have watched the videos and played with the bird songs and the games, so if it helps get them interested it will be a great plus. All in all then, a good program with a few gaps but at a pretty good price.
(addendum) Having used the Peterson Multimedia Guide a little more I have found a few more problems with it. From the guide point of view there is a noticeable lack around its depiction of variant plumages (Winter/Juvenile). Frankly they are no better than in the 4th edition of the standard Peterson guide. When you use the “similar species” key this is a particular problem, because what is similar can depend on the age and season . There are also some technical glitches. The set up is quite basic. There is no option for keeping data you enter in a separate data file. The set up requires rather erratic access of the CD drive and the result is that it can be quite slow. All in all I still think it is a good first attempt, but it really has not taken full advantage of the medium. I look forward to future more refined editions appearing. (Perhaps when they do Birds of Britain and Europe? - the birding bible I grew up with!)
The Peterson Guide was the first CD-ROM I purchased after I acquired my computer. It has been an excellent acquisition. It is set up exactly as the printed version and often makes reference to it. It is easy to move around within as well. The features my sons and I enjoy most are the quizzes (sight and sound tests of ability at several levels) and the lists. Each of us produces our own life lists and other lists as well. Each list is comprised of photo, pertinent location information and our own comments. There appears to be lots of space for this function. Editing is also simple.
I have the Peterson CD. It is very similar to the field guides with larger pictures and bird calls. It does not go into more detail and actually uses the same material as the books. It is all of North America rather then east and west. I find it quicker if my computer is on. There are some other things it does. It keeps a life list for you although I don't like it because it doesn‘t show a count. You have no idea how many birds are on your list. Rather useless as a life list. It also has some minor learning programs although not much for an experienced birder. I find it handy but was not as good as I had hoped.
Peterson‘s is best of breed (so far). It uses the Peterson guide‘s artwork, is nicely laid out and is reasonably snappy. It also has 700 photos and some video, and 700 songs. The lifelist tool is limited (much like Audubon‘s) and has a link to Peterson Online - www.petersononline.com - which you don't need this software for. Of them all, if you were to buy only one CD-ROM, I‘d recommend Peterson‘s. I have used all of these guides in the field (with my laptop and digital camera) and find that Peterson‘s is the quickest to look up birds with. And nothing compares to listening to the birdsong right after you hear it in the field.
I have the Peterson CD-ROM. The info is basically what‘s in the books. Beyond that, the photos are very good, the vocalizations are too (I even record some of them on a portable tape machine for field use). The listing portion is pathetic - don‘t bother. There are some interesting video files (for beginners, but good anyway) and some fun skill-building games. All in all, it‘s not sophisticated, but I think it‘s worth having and using.
I have both the Thayer‘s Version 2.5 and the Peterson CDs. Thayer‘s retails for $125, while you should be able to get the Peterson for $49 at most stores - e.g. Chapters. The Thayer‘s is quite a bit more detailed and has more options such as videos and their quiz package is better than Peterson‘s. There are many more pictures in the Thayer‘s - breeding, non-breeding and juvenile. Birders that I know in the Ottawa-Hull area prefer the Thayer‘s.
Peterson‘s is excellent value for the money and the quality is great. It is the only CD that I have bought for birds and will not likely look for another. The only complaint that I do have about it is that the life listing does not allow for a lot of flexibility and allows for about four birds per page. Takes a lot of paper to print a life list. My son (eight years old) uses the software and is learning silhouettes, flight identification, etc. I would definitely recommend this software.
The only one I have tried is the Peterson‘s. I really like it and use it quite a bit. I think it is good value for the money: it has a life list feature, a bird-finder feature (where you can enter what you know about the bird and it will give you a suggested list of IDs), and a searchable bird guide (by species) with both photos and drawings of the birds. It also has videos with RTP introducing various aspects of birdwatching. The feature I like the most is the ability to look up a bird and play its song and call notes.
Peterson‘s “North American Birds” is a nicely put together programme which would be ideal for beginner to intermediate birders. It includes a picture of each bird, a life-list, some notes on distribution etc., and in most cases a recording of the song. Unfortunately, many of the birds have no song, and some species that have several songs are only supplied with one. There are some bird quizzes, etc. to test your skills, but for the advanced birder it‘s NOT.
Peterson is quite easy to use. I especially like the ability to click on “voice” and hear the individual birds. The down side is the checklist part. If you want software for checklist applications, I would not recommend this one.
The Thayer‘s CD allows for comparisons where the Peterson‘s, which I also have, does not. The listing on Thayer‘s is not as good as Peterson‘s but on the whole I would choose Thayer.
A friend told me about Peterson‘s CD so I bought one a year ago and have not regretted it once. It was purchased in Toronto as no one in our area carried it. It cost $49.95 plus tax. The information and photos are well done. One can access the bird one wants to read about by looking through the pages of Peterson‘s book on the CD. When you find it, a page and menu pop up where you can get to the finer details of that bird such as ... larger photo in the field, a map, habitat, voice, nesting, etc. One of the features I like the most is being able to hear and therefore learn the ‘voices’ of the birds.