Exsiccatae
A field journal for birds
Only for iPhone
Free · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
Photograph or listen for a bird and Exsiccatae names it on your phone, then presses it onto the page like a specimen, filling with watercolour the more you see it.
Exsiccatae is a field journal that paints itself in.
Photograph a bird, or listen for its song, and Exsiccatae names it entirely on your iPhone, then mounts it on the page like a pressed herbarium specimen. See a species once and it's a faint graphite ghost; see it again and again and it fills with hand-painted watercolour. Your life list becomes a living collection.
IDENTIFY, ON YOUR DEVICE
• Photo identification runs on-device. Nothing is uploaded, and it works offline.
• A continuous listening session identifies birdsong from the microphone in real time, on-device, and the birds you hear settle onto the page as you listen.
• Not sure? Pick the closest match, or search by name. The app is always usable.
A JOURNAL THAT REWARDS RETURN
• First sighting: a pencil underdrawing. By the fourth: a full watercolour plate.
• A living collage grows with your collection. Pinch to lean in over the sheet.
• "Expected nearby" shows the species recorded around you as ghost plates waiting to be found.
REAL FIELD METHOD
• Start a timed, located outing (Stationary, Traveling, or Incidental) matching eBird's protocols, with optional GPS distance for traveling counts.
• Correct a finding's count, date, or notes; add your own photos and recordings.
DONATE YOUR DATA TO SCIENCE
• Export any outing in eBird Record Format and upload it yourself to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird, the same dataset that trains birdsong models. Exsiccatae never submits for you; you always review and choose.
YOURS, LOCAL-FIRST
• No account. No cloud copy. Your photos, locations, recordings, life list, and journal live on your phone. Sharing a sighting or exporting an outing is always your explicit choice.
Exsiccatae is a free portfolio project, built solo end to end. "Exsiccata" is a bound collection of dried, labelled specimens: a herbarium of everything you've seen.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
The developer, craig merry, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Location
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- craig merry
- Size
- 56.2 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Location
- This app may use your location even when it isn’t open, which can decrease device battery life.
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Craig Merry