The best birdwatching apps in the UK (2026)
There’s no single “best” birding app — most keen birders use two or three, each for a different job. Here’s an honest look at the main options for identifying birds, submitting records and keeping your own life list.
Quick guide: which app for which job?
The apps compared
Merlin Bird ID
Free, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Its Sound ID listens to birdsong and suggests what’s singing, and it can identify birds from a photo. Brilliant for beginners and for learning calls.
It’s an identification tool first rather than a full record-keeping system. Many birders use Merlin to identify, then log the sighting elsewhere.
BirdTrack
Run by the BTO with partners including the RSPB. Your records feed into research and bird conservation across Britain and Ireland, which makes it hugely worthwhile.
Its focus is on records that are useful for science, so it’s less about personal stats, competitions or insight into your own birding.
eBird
Free, from the Cornell Lab. Huge worldwide community, hotspot maps and checklists that contribute to research. Great for finding where birds are being seen when you travel.
Built around complete checklists shared for science, which suits some birders more than others. Personal reporting is more limited than a dedicated record-keeping app.
Birda
A community-focused app with challenges, badges and a social feed — good if you enjoy sharing sightings with other birders.
Lighter on in-depth personal reporting for birders with years of records.
Trip Tick
Built by a UK birder for keeping your own records. Log a trip in seconds, even offline, with voice entry on mobile. Life, year, month, patch and country totals update automatically, and Premium adds 21 reports and Leaderboards with friends or your club.
Not a scientific recording scheme — if your records are useful to science, keep submitting them to BirdTrack or eBird too. Logging is free; Premium is £2.50 a month.
Using more than one app
A common set-up: identify with Merlin, submit records of interest to BirdTrack or your county recorder, and keep your complete personal history in Trip Tick, where your totals and reports live. Nothing stops you using all three — they do different jobs.
Already have years of records elsewhere? Most apps let you export them as a spreadsheet, and we’ll convert and import them for free.
Features and prices change — check each app’s own website for the latest. Last reviewed November 2026.