Main Menu

This screen has 4 buttons along the bottom:

• Species Lists - this will present you with a list of families or groups (or the entire bird list) in a text list, which is easy to search and easy to navigate.
• Family Pictures - this will display the Family Picture Index (shown below) - an alternative method to Species List for finding a bird.
• View Bird Log - this will show you a list of all the sightings logged in the Bird Log.
• Extras - this will present you with a list of "extra information" which may be useful, including contact details of the manufacturer & the version number for the program. Additional information (like Bird Topography, etc) present in the book, but which could not be presented in the format shown below is also available to you to read here.

Family Picture Index

This screen shows a representative species from each of the major groups of birds (for example the Great-Spotted Woodpecker represents all Woodpeckers). The screen also features the unique picture-in-picture navigation tool, where a minuture of the complete image is shown (top right). A red square within the minature indicates where the image on the screen is within the complete image.

You can navigate around the picture by moving the red square, or by dragging the larger image with the stylus. You could also use the thumb navigator (normally situated at the bottom of the PDA) to move around the image.

To select a family tap on the image of the representative species.

Species Page

This screen shows the typical layout for each bird species. The picture-in-picture navigation tool can be shown or hidden by clicking on the Show button (in this case the tool is not shown). To navigate around the image move the red square in the picture-in-picture navigation tool, or drag the image around with the stylus. (To "drag" - press the stylus gently on the screen and move it without lifting the stylus off the surface of the screen). You could also use the thumb navigator to move around the image.

5 large and self-explanatory buttons are shown across the bottom of the screen:

• Back - this will return you to the list of species.
• Map - this will show the distribution map for the current species (if available).
• Sound - this will display the sound menu. It will also immediately start playing the first sound. In order to view the sound menu, without playing the sound use the up arrow to the right of this button.
• Info - this will show the text information extracted from the Collins Bird Guide
• Log - this will give you the opportunity to log any sightings of this species.

The < and > buttons at the top of the screen will move backwards and forwards through the list of species currently selected (for example the current bird family, or all birds beginning with "red", etc).

Map

The distribution map (in this case for the Eurasian Golden Oriole).

Key will display the key to the various colours used in the map.

Sounds

This screen depicts the sound menu for the Eurasian Golden Oriole, and in this case you can see that there are 2 sounds for this species - a song of the male and a call.

Info

Shown here is the text from the Collins Bird Guide, including the name of the species, the scientific name, the abundancy symbol for the species as well as the size, description and a description of the voice (songs and calls, etc).

For more information on the abundancy symbols see "Additional Information" under "Extras" on the Main Menu, for example mB5 / P5 here indicates the European Golden Oriole is a Migrant Breeding bird in Britain (rare) as well as a common (i.e. regular) Passage visitor in small numbers.

Log

The Bird Log captures the species name, the location, the date and an additional field for your comments. The log can be exported in a standard CSV (Comma Separated Value) format, which in turn can be imported into most database and spreadsheet applications, like Microsoft Excel.