Merlin Bird ID App, developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is FREE! Just tell this app the date, where you saw the bird (on the ground, in trees etc), its three main colors, and its size (relative to other birds, such as robins), and it will provide the most likely “suspects” along with very clear photos. It has helped me identify birds many a time.
And if you can snap a photo, you can use Merlin’s Photo ID. (As one of the many volunteers who helped “train” this artificial intelligence application, I’m especially pleased to see the excellent outcome!)
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
- All About Birds — EXCELLENT for identification and all sorts of bird-related things information
- Bird Academy — A whole catalog of courses! There is a charge for most of these courses, but they’re well worth it. The nice thing is that once you purchase a course you can revisit it to review the information.
- Iowa State Univ.:
- BugGuide.net: Identifies insects and spiders – EXCELLENT resource. It’s easy to sign up, then you can submit a photo of your insect. Usually I hear back within a day or even in just a few hours.
- Butterflies and Moths of North America:
- Identification tools — includes both butterfly/moth AND caterpillar resources
- The Xerces Society:
- San Francisco State Univ:
- Great Sunflower Project: Bee Observer Cards — a nice description of different kinds of bees
- Pollinator.org:
- What’s buzzin’ in my garden? — This is for the East