Collect Birds, Not Beers

If your children are too young to enjoy Untappd, you could introduce them to Birds Around the World instead. With this map, rather than tracking all the beers they've drunk, they can collect all the different birds they've discovered! Get them started with binoculars and field guides rather than pints and beer goggles.

Birds Around the World is an interactive 3D globe that allows children to explore the world's birdlife. Hundreds of bird species are represented on the globe, with each dot marking where a particular species can be found. Click on a bird to discover a photograph, its conservation status, what it eats and, best of all, a recording of its actual bird call.

There is plenty more to discover beyond simply identifying birds. Children can test their knowledge with games that challenge them to identify birds by their calls or work out where different species live. There is also a Bird of the Day feature and a collection tracker for keeping tabs on all the birds they have spotted.

The globe is designed to make learning about wildlife fun and accessible, but there is some interesting science behind it too. The dietary information comes from the open-data EltonTraits database, conservation categories are drawn from the IUCN Red List via Wikidata, and the bird calls are recordings contributed by the Xeno-canto community. The map itself is based on Natural Earth data.

Birds Around the World is completely free, has no adverts and doesn't require an account. It is a lovely little educational globe that might encourage younger explorers to discover the extraordinary diversity of birds around the planet - and perhaps learn a few bird calls along the way.