Song Sleuth Bird Song Analyzer Reviews

by Old_grouse_herder

first SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer functionality- if your purchasing this to ID birds by song save your $. In the hundreds of recordings Ive made since 2017 SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer has ID'd two birds correctly. As such SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer is only used to record songs and upload to eBird for my birdsong life list.

second- app support. there is none. i purchased SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer in 2017 for 9.99. when i purchased my new phone SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer didn't come across and showed that I had to purchase it again. i contacted Wildlife Acoustics who referred me back to SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer store. after two hours on the phone and repeating the issue multiple times to multiple representatives at Apple Support I was told to just purchase and download it again. When I did this it said you already own a copy and would I like to download it for free (tell me something I don't know). So if you make this purchase realize you will be wasting time trying to maintain your 9$ purchase on an app that doesn't do what it says it does. Once you realize that good luck with support!

by Meghana27

I like SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer better without the “improvements”.
The new selection box makes me select the particular bird song I’m interested in and then makes me select one of the possible matches. If I knew which bird is singing, I wouldn’t need SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer in the first place!!
We have a wooded area in our backyard which is home to lots of local bird. It’s very rarely that we can actually see the bird that is singing. And that is exactly why I need SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer . Making me select the bird species that I think is singing based on short-listed suggestions defeats the purpose.
I don’t see a way to turn off the selection box.
I’m okay with SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer making close guesses as to which bird species it might be based on my location like it did before but now it seems useless to me.

by Jimmyfritz

Every birders wish-just record the song and it IDs the bird for you. I tried it out on several birds which I could see or whose song I was already familiar with. In only one case was the correct bird even among the choices. I then tested it at home on recordings from Cornell Macaulay Library with very poor result. Even the format, giving a choice of three or four birds, isn’t really helpful. If I could see the bird to confirm it I wouldn’t need SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer . This format works well for some nature apps like iNaturalist where you can compare their suggestions to an actual plant or insect in front of you or in a photo you took. I gave Song Sleuth two stars versus one as I did find the graph of the recording useful to help me envision the differences between songs in another birdsong learning app I have.

by Jendfeld

SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer just doesn’t come up with identifications that match my recordings. It will generally offer three possibilities, with recordings of their songs. The recordings are far different than what I have just recorded. It’s as if SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer is just taking a wild guess. It would be absolutely wonderful if SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer were right on target with the IDs. It would be exactly what I need, and I would learn a lot. I keep trying. But even with the clearest recordings, I get no help at all. I do wish...

by Perefalcon

It appears the song catalog SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer uses might be biased towards recordings made in the eastern US. Even when I isolate the part of the recording to the relevant phrases, it more often than not suggests nonsensical species. Species with large repertoires, like Bewick’s wren, are especially problematic. I do like the sonograms created. Wish I could control, or even knew, what file format is used by SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer .

by Vjera

Best bird recording app I’ve found but has limitations. I love the three second delay so that I can wait before I start recording. But it often requests me to rate SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer when I first open it, so I miss getting the recording. It doesn’t open consistently to the same screen so that is frustrating also. I have a hard time with cropping songs, the crop tool isn’t intuitive. I also would like a way to crop and save a new version rather than writing over the first one. I don’t use the predictive function often and it’s confusing that I have to cancel to save the song and return to record again.

by 50dresses

Best part of SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer is that the recorded songs actually call in the birds for you! I put out a sunflower feeder and a thistle feeder. The first day I got 2 pairs of cardinals flying around my area and sitting within 15 feet of me. I now have at least 4 goldfinches at a time. One day I was just playing all the bird songs and a red bellies woodpecker came flying in like he was late to supper! The ID is spotty but at least now I can see the birds that I’ve been hearing in the woods! And they’re enjoying my feeders. So much fun!

by Queen Of Jackass Hill

I begin painting watercolors of birds about a year ago and because of that I became an avid birderand I’m learning all I can about birds and now I’m learning to identify birds by their songs. I’ve only tried the half out for one day so far but within the first four times of using it I got two correct birds from their songs. I really appreciate having the spectra grams to look at and compare with other bird songs. It helps me remember the songs because I am very visual. From my experience using other apps to record Birdsong‘s this is by far the best one. The bird songs are more clear and concise and you have the option of clarifying them further. If I think it’s a different bird then the three birds suggested I would like to be able to input that and keep the recording but I don’t know how to do that yet or if it’s even possible. I also appreciate that you can change the state that you’re in and thereby receive indications of the most common birds in that area. I’m going on vacation soon to several different states and I will be using this to help me identify Birdsong‘s. Nothing is perfect but I tend to disregard the negative impressions I read about regarding SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer because to me it’s a godsend!

by Aydin991

I ve learned so much about birds in my community. I agree w others some songs u recorded may not sound like the bird SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer identifies,But then again when I do listen to numerous songs a specie may produce, I am baffled that they sound nothing like each other.I’ve spent many hours watching the birds taking pictures of them with my zoom lens. I am now reading books about birds and still using SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer to identify birds. Especially in other neighborhoods when I see nee species helps me ID them. It’s great for learning or a first step into Birding.
I Purchased a four prong birdfeeder for my backyard which is squirrel proof. I’ve gotten anywhere from the common Cardinals, Blue Jays to numerous finches, Orioles and unfortunately several hawks.
I live on Long Island NY..I will be visiting Caumsett park with its 1700 species of birds and spend the day w Song Sleuth.
Another great feature is if you do play a certain song there’s a good chance that if that bird is near by they to respond and most of them come very near to listen. Enjoy!!

by Onyonet Photo Studios

While it may not be perfect it’s no worse than many birding ID by sight apps. It will at least get you going down a path to identify birds by their songs and calls. When it hears more than one animal it will give a few suggestions based on all of the sounds it picks up. It heard a gray squirrel, a toad and a chipmunk along with several birds on one recording.

As the Brits might say, I was gobsmacked this morning when the only sounds from our deck was animals (no lawn mowers, traffic or other background noise). It identified a Pileated woodpecker. I’ve only seen a few pileated woodpeckers and had never heard one, as far as I knew before running SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer . I was unable to confirm the pileated by sight, but have no doubt it was there after I was able to isolate its call from the other animals several times.

Song Sleuth opens up a new avenue for finding birds and making an ID when you are clueless (or just have a brain fart like this old man has frequently 😁).

by Timmyg2kx

As a lot of other reviews have pointed out, the ID feature of SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer is hit or miss. I’ve been using it for over a year now and have figured out how to isolate the songs I’m trying to record a little better. Even so, it’s accurate less than 50% of the time.

However, this is still the best app I’ve found for recording birds. And has a lot of great features!

- It records an a loop so that when you hit record, it includes the previous three seconds in your recording. This is huge! I’ve nailed so many more recordings that I never would have gotten without letting the recorder run for a minute or more waiting for the bird to song again.

- It provides you a visualization of song to help remember it.

- It geotags all your recordings

- It organizes your recordings with file names including date/time and species name (if known).

I know everyone is looking for a Shazam for bird songs. This is not it, but it allows you to make great recordings and keep them organized and sometimes it helps you identify the songs. That’s pretty good!

by Reviewer Nickname 13

I like SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer—it took only about 5 mins to figure out. I like being able to work with the recordings and isolate them and see them in comparison to others in the database. I love how beautifully the database is laid out, and I love browsing it. Can we please be able to save favorites to our own custom folder from the database so we don’t have to browse all of them all the time? Would stop me from having to use other apps. Would also be great if we can organize our own recordings into groups or folders.

by Shadow9cat

SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer is fascinating. The accuracy on identifying the birds is hit or miss, which is to be expected especially when there is background noise. Isolating the call doesn’t always work, but it does help.

The most interesting part to me about SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer is seeing the spectrograms. The I’m starting to see patterns for the individual species. I’m a visual learner so this is going to help me see and hear the calls to aid in identification. Also, saving calls for my local birds is a godsend. Birds seem to have a different dialect depending on region. Now I can save recordings of my local birds to compare. Don’t know if the ability is in SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer yet as I am only just exploring this, but it would be nice if my calls could be added to the information page for individual species maybe on a separate tab, so I could quickly reference my local recordings.

My only complaint is that the rarity of the birds is inaccurate. For example, in my area eastern wood peewees are considered scarce by SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer , but they are quite common in the woods. Perhaps SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer will get smarter as more people record bird calls. But it’s a good start. I’ve already spent hours and hours playing around with it and I absolutely love it!

by Acorn Falls

The ID feature gets lucky on occasion, but is very inconsistent: I wouldn’t trust an ID I couldn’t confirm visually or from other recordings. Twice now I’ve had SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer make a correct suggestion (that I was able to verify later) on the first attempt, but then it wouldn’t produce the same result again. It’s still a useful tool, you just really have to do your own sleuthing. So far, it’s been a helpful and engaging companion to my birding.

by Luvcrubbage

I’ve been trying to ID an ovenbird by sound for the past several weeks and this did the job right off the bat! When I replayed the song the bird flew into my area very distraught. I turned it off right away as I’ve read this can cause distress. I’m going to try it next on what I think is a Prairie Warbler. Love SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer!

by Cgrantski

SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer description clearly says it does not works for simple chirps, repetitive calls and other vague sounds. I think ignoring this warning is a reason why many commenters think it doesn't work.

I've used it only this morning and only with what i would call songs, and it has batted 1000 so far (NW USA).

by Pamelacg

I am an avid bird fan. I go bird watching, I feed them and have nursed them back to health. I love SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer. When I’m alone and do not want to be with “people,” I find serenity going off on my on with my binoculars and my bird calls. Although I do find that some of birds on their list states they are uncommon or rare and they are actually here in my region of New Hampshire.

by J9Birder

At first I was frustrated because the birds that came up with my recording did not match. But I still love SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer! I enjoy playing the calls of the suggested matches, even if they are wrong. And then I use my recording to find the match myself. I assume SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer will only get better and it’s so fun and a wonderful learning bird songs by ear tool.
Worth taking time to learn how to use this and play around with the sonograms. The extra visuals of songs helps me memorize them and recognize patterns among species.
Thanks so much for this terrific app!!!

by Duff Brew

Now I am not an avid birder really, but I enjoy the wildlife drives at various refuge areas. I also enjoy attempting to ID birds when I see them. Right outside my window this dark morning, I can hear the bird well, but I cannot see the bird even a little bit.
This ap is perfect for an enthusiast with my level of birding skill and is a whole lot of fun. I love the sharing and map features and plan on having my birding friends family download and install this ap so I can share my sound bytes. I was reading some of the other reviews about “not perfect” or some other such negativity. I would disregard these thoughts and reply with something like, “get a grip, this is an awesome tool and a fun ap”.

by Nabil Fawzi

Since the pandemic began and people have isolated themselves in NYC a lot more birds are yammering away. There is one species that is being a “bird-hole” as it starts its call around 5:30 am every day and feels like its on auto repeat. I got SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer to identify this miscreant and have so far was unsuccessful-probably because of other noises. However it has provided me with hours of entertainment as I listen to the myriad bird calls. Great job!

by Birder (always Working On It)

On the open prairie, with no noise except the air (3 mph wind, phone placed on a fence post) could not identify a Bobwhite literally 25 feet away. A red winged blackbird literally 30 feet away. Those are just two examples of how I’ve wasted my time and money.
I keep trying but I will finally delete it because it is so frustrating.

by Fr345df

Crashes when I change a setting. SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer identified pileated woodpecker alarm call as a bobwhite quail after careful selection of the sound on spectrograph. Identified mallard quack as a grackle. The only call it got right was northern cardinal. Oh, and when I try to display the FAQ from the menu I get a Not Found error. I will keep trying though, and look for updates. I like the way it captures a couple of seconds before you press the record button.

by RadioPT

Guess I should have checked-“iphone app offered” means you’ll have to pay - no sharing. Most apps bought on an iPad are shared for free on an iPhone. NOT THIS ONE!!! You have to pay $10 twice. Ouch! My most common use would have been with iPhone. I just started using SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer and I’m already angry!

by RobRog

I wish SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer was accurate because there is much to like about it. The ability to record a song and isolate it is excellent. I love the database of birds and their different calls. The problem is I haven’t had a match yet Very disappointing.

by Amy A123

I actually like SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer a lot—for its catalog of birds common to my area, for the compilation of bird songs/calls, and for the illustrations of the birds. The ID is flaky though. Often SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer will suggest three birds to match my recording and, to my ear, those birds sound nothing like what I just heard. It is a convenient feature though to be able to toggle back and forth between one’s own recording and the suggested bird songs. What I’ve been doing a lot is recording a bird, then just going down the list of common birds in my area to locate the one I find that sounds similar. That’s how I matched a song to the Carolina wren for which SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer suggested three other (and to me distinctly different- sounding) birds. In that way, I’m becoming more familiar with the various bird songs. So SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer helps me in that way.

by DiLewis

Maybe need to use an external microphone. You must be absolutely still in handling the phone/iPad.
I tried playing songs from SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer and listening with SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer on another devise and it didn’t pick the correct bird. Sometimes I think there may be some database problems that need resolved. Have you tried testing as I outlined above, you should be getting near 100% success.

by 25?

I use SongSleuthBirdSongAnalyzer every time I go out birding! I use it to help me identify the species - no, it is not perfect for that, but it usually gives me ideas and most importantly allows me to record, make notes and then analyze later. It is helping me learn and to get better at identifying the song/call myself. I also like how you can reduce the background noise for better ID.

by AmandaMae1234

First time I used it to record a OMG bird and it was 99% sure it’s a mourning dove. First I wouldn’t have needed help identifying that. Second it was no way close to a mourning dove call. App Deleted!