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What's New in Bird Brain 4.5

New birds
Help in updating
New help with name changes
New ABA Checklist and Target Lists
New ABA State Wish List
List Records by Bird improvement
Renumber your records

System Requirements
Prices
How to order

Bird Brain 4.5 has new birds!

Bird Brain 4.5 has an absolutely up to date reference database. Here are some of the recent changes in bird names and taxonomy that are included.

In July of 1998, the AOU published its long-awaited Seventh Edition to their Check-list of North American Birds. The most dramatic change is major shifts in the taxonomic order, the sequence in which birds are listed.

In addition, many birds' names are changed. Two changes that will affect North American birders are Siberian Tit (now Gray-headed Chickadee) and Pauraque (now Common Pauraque).

These changes are in addition to the massive overhaul made by the American Ornithologists' Union in July of 1997. Two examples:

  • Solitary Vireo was split into Plumbeous, Cassin's, and Blue-headed Vireos.
  • Plain Titmouse was split into Oak Titmouse and Juniper Titmouse.

Bird Brain 4.5 faithfully reflects all the changes in nomenclature and taxonomy. As a result, there are now 38 more bird species in Bird Brain 4.5 than there were Bird Brain 3.01.

If you're updating from an older version, Bird Brain 4.5 has built-in help to make it easy to find and change any records of species that have been split or lumped. On-screen, interactive reports show you exactly which of your records are affected by the new splits, and in each case what are the new birds you can choose among.

Look under the Records menu for "List Relevant Splits & Lumps" and for "List Records Split or Lumped."

If it's only that a bird's name has been changed, Bird Brain makes the change for you automatically, bringing all of your reports and life lists up to date with no intervention from you whatsoever.

Changes in Bird Brain 4 from Bird Brain 3

New help in entering birds whose names have changed!
The taxonomists have been busy in the last few years, with the result that many popular field guides, that we are still using, are now out of date. Bird Brain 4 assists you with an on-screen list of Recent Name Changes showing the old and new names of birds whose names have changed in the last few years.

Look for it under the Reference menu. It's a big time saver when you have a lot of records to enter.

New ABA Checklist and Target Lists!
These are special new lists for North America (the ABA area).

Look for the ABA Checklist in the Life Lists menu. This list comes up three columns to the page and lists every species recognized by the ABA as being a bird found in North America (914 species, at present).

The next item in the Life Lists menu is the ABA Target List. It resembles the ABA Checklist, but it shows a checkmark in front of each species you have already seen in North America.

New ABA State Wish List!
A feature that many users have requested. For each state and province, it makes a list of all the birds that you could add to your ABA Life List in that state.

List Records by Bird improvement!
When you activate the "List Records by Bird" report, you see a list of all your records of the species you designate. A change from Bird Brain 3 is that now the list is sorted from most recent to oldest record. This is a convenience when you have many records of the same species, because you no longer have to scroll down to review the most current records.

Renumber your records!
When you delete one of your records in Bird Brain, the Record Number for that sighting is retired. Although there is nothing wrong with that, many people simply would rather not have any gaps in their records. Now you can automatically renumber your records in an unbroken sequence.

There is one circumstance in which renumbering one's records really is essential. If you happen to have loaded records into Bird Brain from more than one source, you could conceivably have the same Record Number used for two records. And that is something that should never happen in Bird Brain, because it will seriously mess up all your lists.

Renumber Records function to the rescue! One simple operation fixes up the whole situation.




Who makes Bird Brain?
Ideaform Inc., which has been developing software for the Macintosh computer since 1984. We pride ourselves on our attention to user-friendly design, professional documentation, and excellent technical support. Moreover, we are birders, who use the product we sell.

System requirements
Bird Brain requires at least a Mac Plus or later Macintosh computer, 2 MB of application-available RAM, and a hard disk drive. It requires System 6.0.8 or later.

When first installed, Bird Brain 4.5 will take 4.1 MB on your hard drive. If you add the World Birds, it will then take 7.8 MB.

Bird Brain 4.5 will run in native mode on the Power Mac provided you are running System 7.5 or later.

Prices

Bird Brain 4.5 Upgrade
(with 2,009 birds of North America) from any previous version of Bird Brain
$29.95
Bird Brain 4.5 Upgrade
plus World Birds Data (brings species total to 9,808), from any previous version of Bird Brain
$39.95
Shipping $4 to North America and Hawaii, $8 elsewhere


All payments in U.S. funds.
Visa and MasterCard accepted.

HOW TO ORDER

Direct on the Internet:
Go direct to the Ideaform
Order Desk
Visa and MasterCard accepted

By phone:
Ideaform Inc.
515-472-7256
Visa and MasterCard accepted

By FAX:
Ideaform Inc.
515-469-5065
Visa and MasterCard accepted

By regular mail:
Ideaform Inc. 908 East Briggs Fairfield, IA 52556 USA
Send check, or VISA or MasterCard number with expiration date. Include your name, address, and phone number.

Guarantee
Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. Try Bird Brain 4.5 or any other Ideaform product risk free for 30 days. If you are not completely satisfied, return the package for a refund of your full purchase price.


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