Features

For new v3.7 features, please see here.

Birder's Diary offers a host of features not found in other listing software.

• Import & Export
  • Ability to share data such as sightings, checklist data, locations, etc with other users.
  • Ability to import sightings from all other tools, including other listing software tools, spreadsheets, etc. Special import tools exist for migrating from AviSys.
  • You can build reports on your system and share them with your friends who use Diary.
• Backup & Restore
  • Ability to easily create backups and recover from system failures.
• Speech Recognition
  • Abilty to enter sightings by speaking bird names. All you have to do is to say the bird's name and it is checked off. Works easily with systems equipped with a microphone.
  • Program also responds to spoken menu commands.
  • Speaking parrot will explain the use and functionality of windows for you upon command.
• User-defined Sightings Data
  • Ability to define unlimited data elements to capture exactly all the data you want to capture with your sightings.
  • Supported data types are: Yes/No, Text, Integer, Floating Point, Validated List, Date/Time, Date, Time.
• Keyboard and Checklist entry modes
  • Keyboard mode allows for extremely fast data entry using your keyboard and SmartSearch fields that allow you to enter sightings for birds/things by common name, alias names, scientific name, or band code. It just doesn't get any faster than this!
  • Checklist entry has several different modes from standard paper-form-like entry checklist, to startup mode designed to get your sightings from the back of your field guide, to trip mode for the usual guided field trip.
  • Checklist entry also allows for you to simply speak the bird's name and have it checked off.
• Supports unlimited taxonomic lists!
  • Diary comes with taxonomic lists for all the birds of the world, including subspecies, as well as your local/regional lists such as those by the ABA or AOU, BOU, etc.
  • Diary also comes with taxonomic lists for many other branches of the animal and plant kingdoms. For example, Trees of NA, Reptiles, Mammals, Whales, etc. etc. Check the Downloads page for the latest list.
• Viewing and Editing of all characteristics of all sightings.
  • You can mass edit multiple sightings based on any characteristic or user-defined data element.
  • You can build your own unlimited view sets displaying only the data you want to see in multiple columns/rows. You can then save these views to recall them at any time.
  • Export sightings into spreadsheet programs very easily for advanced graphing and statistical analysis that no listing program alone can come close to providing!
• Supports unlimited observers.
• Location, Location, Location!
  • A location design is paramount to the extent of functionality that your listing software can provide. Birder's Diary supports unlimited location definitions, with each location having the ability to belong to multiple parents and contain multiple children. What this means to you is that not only can you do a report on North America and have that report include all sightings made by contained locations anywhere in the tree, but you can now report on all North American Parks and have all sightings associated with those locations included and counted.
    Don't underestimate this functionality. No other software comes close to providing this extremely important capability.
• Define hierarchical Trips and attach sightings to them.
  • You can then report on entire trips or sub-trips as you like.
• Reports, Reports, Reports!
  • Define and build your own reports from dozens of templates provided for Checklists, Life Lists, Sightings, Trips and special ABA reports.
  • Share your reports with other Diary users with the Export/Import capability.
  • Output your reports to the printer, PDF format, HTML format, e-Mail and RTF format.
  • Specify your own output columns, order, widths, fonts, colors, etc!
• Advanced features allow for things that no other listing software provides.
  • Taxonomy Viewer
    • Allows you to inspect and investigate any taxonomic list loaded into the Diary database.
    • Allows you to make copies of any taxonomic list for purposes of modification and customization
  • Taxonomy Editor
    • Allows you to edit taxonomic lists to any extent. Adding subspecies, executing your own splits/lumps!
  • Checklist Editor
    • Allows you to modify which things are found at which location from the extensive database of thing/location associations that come with Diary. Over 700,000 items in the database!!! For example, if Hooded Oriole becomes accepted for Colorado, then you can quickly add it as a known species for that location.
  • Language/Region Editor
    • Allows you to specify from many different languages available already within Diary.
    • You can also modify the name set associated with any list!
  • Rosetta Stone
    • This feature allows you to inspect the relationship between taxonomic lists loaded into Birder's Diary. An essential tool for determining how differing authorities treat differing birds.
• Extensive Help system
  • Tooltips for each window.
  • Online User Guide.
  • Talking parrot describes each window to you and takes you on a tour of the product.
  • Video tutorials for almost any feature.
  • Online discussion forums where you can search for solutions or post a question/problem. The forum is monitored daily by a support technician. You usually do not wait more than 1 hour for a response from one of our support technicians!
  • Invite Birder's Diary technical support to interact with your system over the internet!