Handheld hi-tech birding

Learning to identify birds by sight and sound has never been easier, for everyone from fledgling Auduboners to duck hunters sitting in their blinds.

Software for birdwatchers has made phenomenal leaps in recent years. Now it’s jumped into our pockets for convenient use in the field.

The multi-media field guides released this year by eNature.com, a leading online nature resource, are designed for the Palm OS platform and the little units most people use for glorified address books.

Search capabilities allow quick identification of plants and animals using the Sony or Palm handheld units. However, the guides are particularly useful for birdwatchers because of the audio, which provides bird identification by sound as well as full-color photographs and descriptions of more than 6,500 North American species, including waterfowl.

Use the “advanced search” to find birds by name, size, group and color. The bird audio feature lets you listen to bird songs and identify birds even if you can’t see them.

The guides include detailed species descriptions, field marks, range maps and more.

You can even zoom in on bird photos.

Bird Guides are available for the 48 continental states and Alaska starting with a “lite” version for $4. The premier edition is available for a $65 donation to the National Wildlife Federation at www.eNature.com/handheld (Palm OS not included).