Help
Short answers to common questions. If yours isn’t here, send it through “Send feedback” on the app’s Progress page.
What Warbly is for
Warbly’s job is to help everyone put names to the birds around them. Apps can tell you the bird. Warbly makes sure you know it next time: short lessons by sight, sound and story, with real photos and recordings, so the names stick.
Warbly the Yellow Warbler is your guide. Tap Warbly on Learn, in your journal or after a lesson to hear a real Yellow Warbler sing, with the recordist’s credit.
The first time you open Warbly on a device, a three-screen tour shows the three tracks, how a unit works and what to do with real birds. Then Warbly asks what brings you here: birds around home, hikes and trips, learning songs, or a class or merit badge. Your answer sets the daily goal (change it in Progress any time) and the practice the Today card suggests for your first week. Skip it any time; it doesn’t come back.
How lessons work
Each unit has a path of seven lessons: Meet, Spot it, Hear it, Know it, Spot it II, Hear it II and Field test. Meet introduces the unit’s birds. Spot it trains your eye, Hear it trains your ear, and Know it covers facts and seasons. The Field test mixes all three.
Meet shows each bird on two short screens. First the bird itself: its photo, its name and its voice (and, for birds whose females look different, a button to see the female). Then its field marks: Warbly asks you to tap one, say the white eye-ring, and its arrow draws in when you find it. Tap a different mark and Warbly tells you which one that was. Show me draws the arrow for you; finding all of a bird’s marks on your own earns 1 XP.
Longer lessons come in two or three sections, such as Warm-up, Practice and Challenge, with the easier questions first. The bar at the top shows one part per section. Between sections, a short checkpoint shows how you did, and a section with no misses earns 2 XP. A question you miss comes back before its section ends, so each section finishes with everything put right.
Hearts are only in Field tests. Everywhere else, you can keep going after a miss.
Questions grow with you. A bird you haven’t named yet comes with two choices, then four once you’ve got it right. When a bird has 4 of its 5 bars in Spot it or Know it, you type its name from memory: close spellings count, and so do four-letter codes like AMRO. Miss it and it comes back before the end of its section, with choices.
Each right answer adds a bar and each miss takes two away. Pick a bird from the right family, like one wren for another, and the miss takes just one bar. Hear it questions keep their own formats and scoring.
What the red arrows are
The red arrows on bird photos point at field marks: the patches, stripes and shapes that tell one bird from a look-alike. The idea comes from Roger Tory Peterson’s 1934 field guide, which pointed arrows at the marks that matter most. On a bird’s page in the app, the Arrows button turns them off and on.
Fieldmark is now Warbly
Warbly used to be called Fieldmark. Same app, same birds, same lessons. Your progress, streak and journal moved over by themselves, and progress copies saved under the old name still load.
Streaks and rest days
Your streak counts the days in a row you’ve practiced. For every 7 days in a row, you earn a rest day, and doing all three daily quests on 3 days in a week (Monday to Sunday) earns another. You can hold up to two. If you miss a day, Warbly uses a rest day automatically, so your streak keeps going.
Nemesis birds
Your nemesis birds are the pairs you mix up most. When you pick one bird for another, Warbly remembers it. Your top pairs show up on the Practice page, with a drill just for them.
Mystery bird of the day
Each day there’s one mystery bird, the same for everyone. Its photo starts as a shadow and flies in piece by piece, 16 pieces in all. The clock starts when you first open the puzzle and keeps going if you close it. Name the bird sooner for a bigger speed bonus: 10 XP for solving it, plus more for the pieces still missing. You get five guesses, and each wrong one brings more pieces and a new clue.
The puzzle has four levels: Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. On Auto it gets harder as you finish units (Medium from 2, Hard from 6, Expert from 11), and the puzzle shows which level you’re on. Harder levels hide the bird’s shadow more (Expert has none), bring pieces more slowly, give fewer for a wrong guess and leave out the starter list, and pay a bigger speed bonus: up to 6 XP on Easy and 12 on Expert. To pick a level yourself, go to Progress › Settings › Mystery bird difficulty. A puzzle you’ve already opened keeps the level it started at. Find it on the Practice page. Missed a day? Under Past mystery birds you can play any of the last 14; past puzzles don’t add XP.
Your field journal
The Journal tab is for birds you see or hear for real. Choose Log a bird, pick the bird (or type the name of one that isn’t in Warbly), then add whether you saw or heard it, how many, when and where, and a note. Tap any sighting to change or delete it. You can also log a bird from its page, which shows the times you’ve logged it.
Your journal is saved and backed up like your progress, and “Reset progress” leaves it alone. Logging doesn’t change your XP or streak; it’s your own record. Warbly never reads your location: a place is the words you type.
You can add up to three photos to a sighting with Add a photo. Warbly makes them smaller and removes the details cameras hide in a photo, including where it was taken. They stay on your device, and with an email account they’re also backed up privately, so they show up on your other devices. Tap a photo to see it full size. Photos aren’t in “Save a copy” or the eBird file. Safari can clear saved data for sites you haven’t opened in a while, so install Warbly or add your email to keep your journal and photos safe.
Your local score
On Progress, your local score shows how many of the birds in season this month you know well, by sight and, for birds with recordings, by ear. A bird is in season when that month’s sightings in the region reach 30% of its peak month, so the score changes through the year and always counts the birds you can find now.
From the field to your practice
Birds you log go into a “Seen in the field” set on the Practice page. If you log a bird you’ve already practiced, it comes back for review that day. When you log a sighting you can also say how you named it: On my own, On my own, then checked, or An app or guide told me. The journal shows how many you named on your own. Naming birds yourself is how the skill grows; apps that name the bird for you teach less.
Name it from a photo
On the Journal tab and in the field guide, Name it from a photo helps with a bird you photographed. Take or choose a photo, then make your own guess first: Cornell Lab’s four keys (size and shape, color pattern, behavior and habitat) help you look. Then Claude, Anthropic’s AI, checks the photo against the birds Warbly teaches in your area and shows up to three matches, with Warbly’s photo of the top one, its field marks and, if your guess was different, the two side by side.
Guessing first is on purpose: working a name out yourself is what makes it stick, and being handed the answer teaches much less. If you log the bird from there, “How you named it” is filled in for you: On my own, then checked when it was your guess, An app or guide told me when it wasn’t. Claude can be wrong, so compare the field marks before you log it. Each account can name 10 photos a day; a photo with no bird Claude could make out doesn’t count. It needs a connection.
Birding events
Two weeks before October Big Day, the Christmas Bird Count, the Great Backyard Bird Count, Bald Eagle Month and Global Big Day, a card on Learn offers practice with the birds likely then. During the Great Backyard Bird Count, the card also offers the Backyard and feeder set. Log a bird in your journal during the event to earn its badge, then use Save for eBird to send your sightings.
The weekly field assignment
The Journal tab has one small real-world task each week, Monday to Sunday: log birds you hear but don’t see, find a bird from this week’s lessons, log a species new to your journal, and so on. Logging the sightings in your journal checks it off. Finish 3 in a month and Warbly’s kit gets that month’s field patch. Every task works from a yard, a park or a walk you’d take anyway.
Coming back after a break
Away for a week or more? Learn opens with a welcome-back lesson of the birds that went due while you were gone, plus how many birds are likely around this month. There’s no catching up to do and no streak to mourn: one lesson and you’re back in the routine.
Winning back a streak
Rest days cover a missed day automatically. If you missed one or two days without a rest day, finish 3 lessons today to win your streak back. If you’d rather not see a streak at all, hide it on Progress.
The cast
Warbly has company. Each track has its own bird, and it closes out that track’s lessons: the Red-tailed Hawk for Spot it, the Western Meadowlark for Hear it, the Common Raven for Know it and the Killdeer for Field tests. Each one gives plain encouragement and what to do next. The Raven opens each Know it lesson with a short story about one of the unit’s birds, taken word for word from the field guide, and the Killdeer opens each Field test with what it holds and how hearts work. They also introduce some birding moments on Learn: the Raven before the Christmas Bird Count, the Hawk for Bald Eagle Month, and the Meadowlark in April and May, when the summer visitors come back.
Themed sets
Under Practice, themed sets group birds across units, one row each: backyard and feeder birds, summer visitors, sparrows and finches, and sounds like trills, whistles and buzzy songs. Each drill asks only about the birds in the set, so the ones that look or sound alike meet each other. A bird is in a sound set when its description in the field guide says so.
Your week in birds
On Progress, “Your week in birds” shows last week (Monday to Sunday): days with a lesson, XP, new birds met and species in your journal, with a line from Warbly and a card to share. Below it is this week so far.
Warbly’s kit
Warbly picks up gear as you learn and bird: binoculars when you know 10 birds by sight, a field notebook for your first journal entry, headphones for 5 birds by ear, a thermos for a 7-day streak, a hand lens for 7 mystery birds solved, a spotting scope for your first Field test, a field hat at 50 birds by sight, a patch for each unit you master in all three skills, a field patch for each month with 3 weekly field assignments, and a scarf every winter. Warbly wears the binoculars, headphones, hat and scarf; the rest ride in the pack. Once earned, gear stays, whatever happens to your streak. See what’s next under Warbly’s kit on Progress.
Birder ranks and notebook paper
Your XP moves you up through six birder ranks, from Backyard Watcher to Field Naturalist, and past the top every 2,500 XP adds a numeral. Each rank unlocks a notebook paper for the app (dot grid, ruled lines, plain, fine graph, all-weather yellow), chosen in Settings. Ranks only change how the app looks; prizes for knowing birds come from what you know.
Backyard Slam prep
Utah DWR’s Utah Birding Slam includes a Backyard Slam: find 10 species within 5 miles of home, with eBird checklists from 5 separate outings. Under Practice, Backyard Slam prep drills the year-round birds of the backyard and town units, the ones around in any month. Below the sets, Warbly shows how many species are in your journal so far. You enter the slam itself with Utah DWR through eBird; Warbly can’t enter it for you, but Save for eBird gets your sightings there.
A printable field notebook
On the Journal tab, Print a field notebook lays out your journal the way the Bird Study merit badge asks: one entry per species, from its first sighting, with the date and time, the place, the bird’s habitat and whether it’s a resident or a migrant. A line for the main feeding habitat and two foods is left blank to fill in by hand. Birds you heard get their song or call from the field guide and your note as behavior. The badge asks for 20 species and 5 identified by song or call alone; your counselor decides what counts. The notebook is made and printed on your device; nothing is sent anywhere.
Your field certificate
Know 20 birds by sight and 5 by ear (3 of 5 bars in Spot it and in Hear it, shown on each bird’s page) and you earn a field certificate. These are the numbers the Bird Study merit badge uses: 20 species, 5 identified by song or call. Open Progress and choose See your certificate to print it or share a card. It lists every bird you know by sight and by ear and how many species are in your journal, with blank lines for your name and a counselor’s, teacher’s or mentor’s signature. It’s a practice record, not the merit badge or any official award; a merit badge counselor decides the badge. Until you’ve earned it, the same place shows what’s left.
Finding things on Progress
Progress has three parts: Your birds (your numbers, local score, week, skills, life list, certificate, kit, calendar and badges), Settings (daily goal, reminders, sonograms, how recordings play, the streak, sound effects, celebrations, your account, offline and your data) and About Warbly (feedback, credits and reset). The buttons at the top jump to each. The life list shows your 12 newest birds; choose Show all for the rest, or see them as field cards.
Field finds
About one lesson in four ends with a field find: a small surprise about one of the birds in it. It might be a photo of a female, another recording (sometimes a call rather than a song) or another fact from the field guide. Each find shows once, and finds never give XP.
Field cards
Your life list as cards: open Progress and choose See your field cards. There’s one card for every bird you’ve met, numbered in the order you met them, with its photo, scientific name, family and a fact from the field guide. Cards grow as you learn: a pencil sketch when you meet a bird, inked once you know it by sight, watercolor once you know it every way it’s taught (by sight, by ear and its facts), and a gold edge when you’ve mastered all of them. Each card says what grows it next, and a card keeps its best finish even if a few misses take bars away. Birds you’ve logged in your journal get a “Seen in the field” stamp. Share any card as an image.
Sending sightings to eBird
At the bottom of the Journal tab, Save for eBird makes a file of your sightings in eBird’s Record Format. Upload it to eBird and choose that format. Each sighting goes in as an incidental record (not a complete checklist), and eBird asks you to match each place to a spot on its map. After the first file, you can save only the sightings added since. eBird’s guide to uploading has the details.
For owls, raptors and sage-grouse, name the general area rather than a nest or display ground. They’re easily disturbed.
Using it without a signal
Install Warbly first, with your browser’s Install or Add to Home Screen option. Then open Progress and choose “Save all birds for offline”. That saves every photo and recording, about 20 MB, so lessons work without a signal.
Your progress on other devices
Open Progress and add your email. Warbly sends you a sign-in link. To use the same progress on another device, add the same email there and follow the link it sends. The progress on that device merges into your account.
Flocks: learning with friends and family
A flock is a small group, up to 12 people, with one weekly XP goal you work toward together. Start one under Progress, then send the invite link or the 8-character code. Anyone with Warbly can join from the link, or under Progress with Join with a code.
In the flock you can see who birded today, your days together with each person (the days in a row you both did a lesson), and cheers. Cheers are short messages to choose from, one per person a day; there’s no chat. The flock’s total goes up with every lesson anyone does and starts over each Monday. The person who started the flock can change the goal and turn on the flock board, which shows each person’s XP this week, inside the flock only.
Using Warbly with a class
Teachers: add your email under Progress, then choose Start a class. Share the code or link with students; they don’t need an email, and should use a first name or nickname. Pick an assigned unit and students see it on their Learn tab with a button that opens it.
Your class page shows each student’s XP and days with a lesson this week, lessons done in the assigned unit, birds known by sight and by ear (3 of 5 bars or more), and their last lesson. You can cheer students and remove anyone who shouldn’t be there; they can’t rejoin. If the code reaches people it shouldn’t, choose New code: the old code and links stop working, and everyone already in stays. Students see the class total and their own progress, not each other’s. Ending the class removes it for everyone; students keep their own progress.
A whole class signing up at once from one school network can hit a limit on new accounts per hour. If some students see “Saved on this device”, they can keep going and join a little later.
The class game: Name it together
On your class page, choose a unit and how many birds, then Start the game and put your screen on the projector. Students find the game on their Learn tab or under the class, and pick on their own devices. Everyone sees the same photo and the same four choices, lettered A to D, so the class can talk them over.
The class moves on to the next bird when everyone playing has named it, or when you tap Next bird. A wrong pick just says to look again or ask a classmate. There’s no timer and no ranking, and nobody sees who answered what: only how many have it. At the end, everyone sees how many birds the class named and the ones worth another look. Each student’s first pick also counts as their own Spot it practice.
Reminders
On Progress, under Reminders, choose a time and Turn on reminders. You’ll get one notification a day at about that time, only on days you haven’t done a lesson yet. They’re about birds in season, birds due for review or your flock’s goal, never your streak. Change the time, send a test or turn them off in the same place.
Reminders work in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, and on iPhone and iPad once Warbly is on your home screen (in Safari, Share, then Add to Home Screen). If your browser blocked notifications, allow them for Warbly in its site settings. You can also add a daily reminder to your calendar instead; your device creates that file, so nothing is sent anywhere.
Slower and lower recordings
Under a recording in Hear it lessons and on every bird’s page, choose Slower to play it at half speed, or Lower to play it at half speed and an octave lower. Lower helps if high notes are hard to hear. The choice sticks until you change it, and you can also set it on Progress.
Read aloud
Bird pages in the app can be read aloud. Read aloud uses the voices built into your device.
Be kind to birds
Recordings are for learning. In the field, don’t play them loudly to call birds in, especially in nesting season. Listen with headphones or at a low volume, and follow local rules.
Something wrong?
If a photo, recording or question looks wrong, flag it in the app with the flag button next to it. For anything else, use “Send feedback” on the Progress page. Reports help fix mistakes for everyone.