A bird in the hand is what you get with this high-flying ornithology assistant. Merlin Bird ID uses your iPhone’s microphone or camera to identify birds by listening to their songs or seeing their plumage, and it’s impressively accurate at identifying birds of all kinds from around the world.

What we love: Remember how amazing it felt the first time you got the music recognition on your iPhone or Apple Watch to identify a song? This does it for birdsong. Recognition is so fast it almost feels like magic. You can also upload a photo to help automatically recognise a bird you’ve snapped, or answer a few simple questions – such as describing its size and colour – to narrow down what you might have seen.

Quick tip: If you’re travelling, there’s a really fun thing you can do in the Explore Birds section: tell Merlin Bird ID where you’re going and when you’ll be there, and it will create a list of the birds you can expect to encounter. You can save your sightings privately or share them to eBird.

Meet the creator: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a mission: to study and conserve the Earth’s biological diversity, focusing on birds and their environment. Based in the State of New York’s Sapsucker Woods – the area’s eponymous native woodpecker appears in the institute’s logo – it was founded in 1915 by ornithology trailblazer Arthur A. Allen. More than a century on, it continues to be supported by thousands of members, who help to fund its research and awareness efforts.