A free tool for the beginners you help
Every group has beginners who'd love to put names to the birds. Learn Birds is a free, friendly app that teaches the UK's birds by sight and song — no signup, works offline. Hand it to them, pin the poster on your noticeboard, and let it do the gentle teaching.
Why it suits beginners
Made for people at the very start — approachable, unintimidating, and genuinely effective.
Free, no signup
Nothing to buy, no account, no email. A member just opens the link and starts — the lowest possible barrier for a beginner.
It actually sticks
Spaced repetition (the science behind language apps) brings each bird back just before it's forgotten, so names move into long-term memory.
Sight and song
Real photographs and real field recordings — learn to know a bird by its look or its call, the way you'll meet it on a walk.
Works offline
Installs like an app and runs with no signal — perfect for the reserve, the hide, or the garden.
Put it on your noticeboard
A print-ready A5 poster with a QR code — pin it up at your indoor meetings, a reserve hide, or the local library.
- Print A5 (or A4 — it scales cleanly).
- Members scan the QR and start in seconds.
- No app store, no signup to explain.
How a leader uses it
Try it once
Have a play so you can vouch for it — a couple of minutes is enough to see how it works.
Recommend it
Mention it to new or curious members: "a free little app to learn the birds — no signup." Pin the poster.
They keep learning
A few minutes a day between meetings, and they arrive at the next walk knowing far more birds.
Happy to help your group or venue
Want a poster with your group's or centre's name on it, a short blurb for your newsletter, or just to say hello? Get in touch — I'd love to help the beginners you meet.