Look it up in the guide. Remember it here.
You see an unfamiliar bird, open your guide and find it: Bay-breasted Warbler. You read the field marks and close the book. Two weeks later, the same bird. Nothing.
That is not a lack of effort. Things you read once fade unless you try to recall them and meet them again. A guide is built for looking up, not for bringing things back.
Trying to recall
Looking at a photo and trying to produce the name strengthens memory far more than reading it. A broad review of study techniques rated practice testing highly and rereading poorly.
Spacing it out
Coming back to a species just as it starts to fade, at longer and longer gaps, is what makes it last. Nature By Name keeps that schedule for you.
Using them together
Keep the guide. Nothing beats range maps, illustrations and careful descriptions when you are working out an unknown.
Then put what you looked up into practice here, and over time you will open the guide for new species instead of the same ones.
Reach for Field guides when
- You are identifying something unknown
- You want ranges, plumages and detail
- You want a complete reference for a region
Reach for Nature By Name when
- You want to remember what you looked up
- You want photos from many observers, not one illustration
- You want to know which species you have forgotten
- You want to know when each species turns up near you
What people ask for
“Ideally, I could put in my region and start with the most common birds and just flip through cards: picture, call. Not a record-and-identify application, but an educational, learn the calls, study application.”
Reddit r/birding. Read the post
“Is there a learning app you’d recommend? One that’s more Duolingo than field guide.”
Reddit r/birding. Read the post
“We’ve all been in that situation where we thumb through our field guide on the plane with a naive sense of confidence, only to be completely overloaded with unfamiliar identification challenges.”
Nick’s Bird Blog. Read the post
Remember what you look up.
Other comparisons: iNaturalist · Merlin · Anki · eBird · Seek · BirdWise