National Geographic Birds: Field Guide to North America

Gr 4 Up—No longer must fledgling birders juggle a field guide, a journal, and a pen—all they need is this app, and voilà, they're ready to go. The app, like the print version of the guide (2006; Jon L. Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer, eds.), offers an overview of avian species on our continent, their appearance and behavior, as well as labeled color images and habitat and range maps. Giving each animal a voice is one of the features listeners are sure to sing about. On the trail, users can sort the creatures by name, family, taxonomy, color, size, habitat, month, region, and abundance. Once a bird is spotted and identified, the journal feature allows users to document the sighting, automatically identifying the location, time, date, and weather. Users also have the option to add notes and/or a photo and share the event. There are quizzes of various levels to take, more than two dozen up-to-date news articles to read, a toolkit that includes a glossary, and 16 short videos. Whether visiting a park, forest, meadow, the shore, or just sitting in their own backyards watching winged wildlife, viewers are sure to appreciate this extraordinary guide.—Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LA