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 |
