Apps for species identification

What, why and when

Species identification apps are used to easily and quickly identify species during field trips, mostly by beginners. They are also increasingly used for citizen science projects such as iNaturalist and Flora Incognita. In such projects, people interested in ecology and nature conservation can identify species using the app and also upload the picture and location of the observation. This is then checked by experts. Of all uploaded and checked photographs, a database of species observations is created. However, not all of the identification apps are directly connected to such a project. Most apps allow you to create your own library of species observations on your device.

Goals

Learning to identify species is hard and takes a long time. To easily identify species and enable people to get to know birds, plants, insects and other taxa, many apps for smartphones and tablets were developed in the last couple of years.

List of apps sorted by taxa

Most species identification apps work with photographs that are taken through the camera of the device and then uploaded and compared to a picture database. The species with the highest similarity to the uploaded photograph are then displayed, so that the user can select the most fitting alternative. Some apps do not take up any data input. In these cases, the app uses a species identification key or shows pictures that can be used for comparison. This is often the case for apps that are based on a book. In some cases, you can play a sound, e.g. of a bird, and compare it to the sound you heard on your field trip. Please be careful with this function as playing voices of animals in the wild can distract present animals. In Germany, this is even prohibited by law (§ 39 BNatSchG).

Please note: For many apps, there is a free version with the basic functions and you can buy more functions and species descriptions in the app. In this article, for free apps, only the version with the basic function is described. If you are interested in the app, please check out prices for additional functions in the app store.

Information about each app was retrieved from the respective app stores (Google Play Store, Apple App Store).

Plants

Name	Species	Region	Language	Price (€)	Media	Operating System
Baum ID Deutschland	105 trees	Germany	German	6.99	Photos	Android, iOS
Flora Incognita	16,000 wild plants	Europe, in the future global	English, German and 18 other languages	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Flora Helvetica	3,000 Wild plants	Switzerland	German, French	99.99	Photos	Android, iOS, Windows
iNaturalist	Unrestricted number of wild plants, animals, funghi	Global	English, German and 69 other languages	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Nature Free - Europa	1,200 Wild plants, animals, funghi, lichens	Europe	English, German, French, Italian, Spanish	0	Photos, Sounds	Android
Nature My - Europa	2,500 Wild plants, animals, funghi, lichens	Europe	English, German, French, Italian, Spanish	6.99	Photos, Sounds	Android
Pl@nt Net	20,000 wild plants	global	English, German and 17 other languages	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Seek by iNaturalist	connected to the iNaturalist database	global	English, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Portuguese, German, and French	0	Photos	Android, iOS

Birds

Name	Species	Region	Language	Price (€)	Media	Operating System
BirdNet	3,000 bird species	global	German	0	Sound	Android, iOS
Der Kosmos-Vogelführer	over 900 bird species	Europe, Middle East, Northern Africa	German	19.99	No media input	Android, iOS
Die Vogel-App!	235 bird species	Germany	German	0	Identification key	Android
iNaturalist	Unrestricted number of wild plants, animals, funghi	global	English, German and 69 other languages	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Merlin Bird ID	Unrestricted number of bird species	global	English, German and 8 other languages	0	Photos, sound	Android, iOS
NABU Vogelwelt	308 bird species	Germany	German	0	No media input	Android, iOS
Nature Free - Europa	1,200 Wild plants, animals, funghi, lichens	Europe	English, German, French, Italian, Spanish	0	Photos, sound	Android
Picture Bird	1,000	global	English, German and 10 other languages	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Seek by iNaturalist	connected to the iNaturalist database	global	English, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Portuguese, German, and French	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Vogelstimmen ID	136 bird species	Central Europe	English, German	4.99	Sound	iOS
Zwitschomat	unknown number of bird species	Europe	German	3.99	Sound	iOS

Insects

Name	Species	Region	Language	Price (€)	Media	Operating System
iNaturalist	Unrestricted number of wild plants, animals, funghi	global	English, German and 69 other languages	0	Photos	Android, iOS
NABU Insektensommer	450 insect species	Germany	German	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Nature Free - Europa	1,200 Wild plants, animals, funghi, lichens	Europe	English, German, French, Italian, Spanish	0	Photos, Sounds	Android
Orthoptera App	119 grasshopper species	Europe	German	11.50	Identification Key	Android, iOS
Seek by iNaturalist	connected to the iNaturalist database	global	English, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Portuguese, German, and French	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Tagaktive Schmetterlinge	160 butterfly species	Central Europe	German	9.99	Identification Key	Android
Zeit der Schmetterlinge	50 butterfly species	Germany	German	0	Identification Key	Android, iOS

Fungi

Name	Species	Region	Language	Price (€)	Media	Operating System
iNaturalist	Unrestricted number of wild plants, animals, fungi	global	English, German and 69 other languages	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Nature Free - Europa	1,200 Wild plants, animals, fungi, lichens	Europe	English, German, French, Italian, Spanish	0	Photos, Sounds	Android
Pilze App	200 species of fungi	Germany	German	0	Identification key	Android, iOS
Pilzator	unknown species of fungi	Germany	German	0	Photos	Android, iOS
Pilze 123	3,700 fung	Austria, Germany, Switzerland	German	34.99	Identification key	Android
Pilzsuche Ultra	1,100 fung	Germany	German	2.99	Photos	Android
Seek by iNaturalist	connected to the iNaturalist database	global	English, Spanish, Hindi, Chinese, Portuguese, German, and French	0	Photos	Android, iOS

Picture search engines

Species identification is also possible by using the picture search function of search engines such as Google Lens. Here, you just have to take a picture with your smartphone or tablet. Then, you go to Google, select Google Lens and upload the picture. It is also possible to upload the picture with Google Lens. Similar pictures from the internet will be shown. For owners of an Apple device, this works in a similar way. In many cases, the results already include a species or genus name or at least a hint towards the taxonomic family. However, the result might not always be correct, especially on the species level. Distinctions between species that are closely related might not always be clear. The distinction on a species level therefore only works for species with very distinct characteristics.

iNaturalist and Seek - A citizen science example

The iNaturalist project began as a project by a Masters's student at UC Berkeley in 2008 and subsequently became an initiative supported by the California Academy of Sciences in collaboration with National Geographic. Since 2023 it is an independent non-profit organization that partners with a wide network of institutions (iNaturalist 2024 a, b). The iNaturalist community consists of hobby biologists and experts representing diverse levels of knowledge from all over the world. The majority of members use the app as ‘observers’ and upload their pictures and other data, while the ‘identifiers’ have curative functions of identifying observations or verifying identifications coming from the community. Community members with a certain number of certified identifications can be promoted to curators (iNaturalist 2024 c).