Version History & Release Dates
Thayer Birding Software DVDs and CD-ROMs
Guide to Birds of North America / Bird of My State or Province
Feature Comparison Chart
see all the differences between v5.5, v4.5, v4.0, v3.9, v3.5 and v3.1
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Windows 8 Released October 30, 2012 (versions 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 and 5.5 work fine on Windows 8)
5.5.1 Released September 13, 2012
-- For Windows. This free update added 43 new photos, updated the taxonomy to match the AOU 53rd Supplement from July 2012 and updated state and province checklists. Songs and a photo can now be exported to iTunes with the bird names in any one of four different languages. In addition, the Manage My Quizzes section now lets you add up to four photos. A Side-by-side comparison icon lets you compare images of Things in Manage My Quizzes.
4.5.1 Released September 13, 2012
-- For Windows and Mac. This free update added 43 new photos, updated the taxonomy to match the AOU 53rd Supplement from July 2012 and updated state and province checklists. Songs and a photo can now be exported to iTunes with the bird names in any one of four different languages. Minor bug fixes were made to the Mac program. New version 4.5.1 discs were manufactured on February 21, 2013.
Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Released July 25, 2012 (versions 4.0 and 4.5 work fine on Mountain Lion)
5.5.0 Released February 21, 2012
-- For Windows. This free update added 12 new species bringing the total to 970 species. 500 new photos showing bird's eggs and nests were added. State and Province checklists were updated. Sightings entry is now easier for multiple sightings on one day. Other minor improvements were made. New version 5.5 DVD discs for Windows were manufactured.
4.5.0 Released February 21, 2012
-- For Windows and Mac. This free update added 53 new species to Birds of North America bringing the total to 753 species. 500 new photos showing bird's eggs and nests were added. State/Province programs added 100-250 new species. State/Province programs now display all species on the "official" checklist (excluding only very rare or accidental species.) State and Province checklists were updated. Sightings entry is now easier for multiple sightings on one day. Other minor improvements were made. New version 4.5 DVD discs for Windows and Mac were manufactured.
5.1.0 Released October 13, 2011
-- For Windows. This free update made a minor improvement to the Flash Card quiz. Updated taxonomy to match AOU 52nd supplement.
4.1.0 Released October 13, 2011
-- For Windows and Mac. This free update made a minor improvement to the Flash Card quiz. Updated taxonomy to match AOU 52nd supplement.
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Released July 20, 2011 (versions 4.0 and 4.5 work fine on Lion)
5.0.3 Released August 27, 2010
-- For Windows. This free update added two new species created by splits. Updated taxonomy to match AOU 51st supplement. Other minor improvements included links to Bing, Google and Wikipedia images.
4.0.1 Released August 27, 2010
-- For Windows and Mac. This free update added two new species created by splits. Updated taxonomy to match AOU 51st supplement. Other minor improvements.
4.0 Released May 14, 2010
-- For Windows and Mac. A major release and the first DVD that could be installed on either a Windows or Mac computer. This was the first version to work on Mac's Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6). Included 700 species (Birds of My State or Province includes just 300 species - but all now available on one DVD - you select the state or province during installation), detailed range maps added, ID Wizard Photo Gallery now has primary and secondary views, includes Band Codes, improved User Manual. New version 4.0 DVD discs for Windows and Mac were manufactured.
3.9.8.2 Released February 4, 2010
-- For Windows. This free update fixed very, very minor bugs relating to backup date format and copyright year displayed.
3.9.8.2 Released February 4, 2010
-- For Macintosh. This free update fixed the Filter and very, very minor bugs relating to backup date format and copyright year displayed.
Windows 7 Released October 22, 2009
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Released August 28, 2009
5.0.2.1 Released August 10, 2009
-- For Windows. This free update fixed a minor bug that caused the Pick One Quiz to stop when it was minimized.
3.9.8.1 Released August 10, 2009
-- For Windows. This free update fixed a minor bug that caused the Pick One Quiz to stop when it was minimized.
5.0.2 Released July 31, 2009
-- For Windows. This free update fixed a bug that caused only 25 birds to appear, added 9 new songs, added a feature to let users import special quizzes, fixed the House Sparrow map, updated a few bird descriptions and included 165 improved songs (see complete list). This was the first v5 disc that could be installed on Windows 7 computers and 64-bit computers. New v5.0.2 DVD discs for Windows were manufactured.
3.9.8.1 Released July 31, 2009
-- For Macintosh. This free update fixed a bug that caused only 25 birds to appear, added 9 new songs, updated a few bird descriptions and added 165 improved songs. An improved screensaver feature was added. Also added was an indicator to show the progress of free downloads. New v3.9.8.1 CD-ROM discs for Mac were manufactured. This ran only on OS X 10.5, 10.4 and 10.3.9.
3.9.8 Released July 31, 2009
-- For Windows. This free update fixed a bug that caused only 25 birds to appear, added 9 new songs, updated a few bird descriptions and added 165 improved songs. The discs were DVDs rather than CD-ROMs. This was the first disc that could be installed on 64-bit computers. This was the first disc that could be installed on Windows 7 computers. It also contained code to run Petey the Parrot on Windows 7. New v3.9.8 DVD discs for Windows were manufactured.
5.0.1 Released February 10, 2009
-- For Windows. This free update was functionally the same as version 5.0.0. It included revisions so that those with 64-bit computers would not have a problem with installation or with future downloads.
3.9.7 Released February 10, 2009
-- For Windows. This free update was functionally the same as version 3.9.6. It included revisions so that those with 64-bit computers would not have a problem with installation or with future downloads.
3.9.6 Released December 31, 2008
-- For Macintosh. This free update was a database update only that included 27 new photos, 72 new songs, two new species and updated checklists and taxonomy. This updated your software to program version 3.9.5 and database version 3.9.6. This ran only on OS X 10.5, 10.4 and 10.3.9.
3.9.6 Released December 18, 2008
-- For Windows. This free update was a major update that included 27 new photos, 72 new songs, new species (adds Common Myha and splits Bean Goose) and improved functionality.
5.0.0 Released December 12, 2008
-- For Windows. This Gold edition DVD was a major release on two DVDs. Included were over 450 new videos, the ability to integrate your own media with the DVD, the ability to make your own quizzes on ANYTHING, a secondary screen for Photo Gallery, Band Codes, new quiz features, 32 new species and much more. New v5.0.0 DVD discs for Windows were manufactured.
3.9.5 Released June 10, 2008
-- For both Macintosh and Windows. This free update corrected a problem when sightings are imported from version 3.0.0. Also changed the genus for Belted and Ringed Kingfisher to Megaceryle. The database version changed from v3.9.1 to v3.9.2 after this update. New v3.9.5 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
3.9.4 Released March 27, 2008
-- For both Macintosh and Windows. This free update corrected a very minor problem that occurred whenever the author field in Custom Lists was blank.
3.9.3 Released January 21, 2008
-- For Macintosh. This free update allowed the program to run on OS X 10.5 and 10.5.1 (Leopard). New v3.9.3 CD-ROM discs for Mac were manufactured.
3.9.2 Released December 12, 2007
-- For Macintosh. This free update allowed the program to run on OS X 10.4.11
3.9.1 Released December 3, 2007
-- for Macintosh. This was the first version made for the Mac. This version ran on OS X 10.3.9 through 10.4.10. New v3.9.1 CD-ROM discs for Mac were manufactured.
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Released October 26, 2007
3.9.1 Released October 4, 2007
-- For Windows.This free update fixed Screen Saver, Blackpoll Warbler song, Windows 2000 install problem and other minor issues. New v3.9.1 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
3.9.0 Released July 31, 2007
-- For Windows. This is the first version that ran on Windows Vista. Completely rewritten in .NET. This was a major release. Many new features were added. New v3.9.0 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
Windows Vista Released January 30, 2007
3.5.4 Released September 23, 2006
-- For Windows. This free update fixed a few very obscure bugs including Flash Card Quiz set to show mnemonics. This updated your software to product version 3.5.4 program version 3.5.142 and database version 3.5.2.
3.5.3 Released August 4, 2006
-- For Windows. This free update fixed a bug related to exporting MP3 files (songs).
After installation, the Program version showed 3.5.130
3.5.2 Released June 28, 2006
-- For Windows. This free update fixed minor bugs found in version 3.5.1
3.5.1 Released June 1, 2006
-- For Windows. This free update fixed bugs found in version 3.5
3.5.0 Released April 1, 2006
-- For Windows. This major release included many new features such as a new "Pick One" quiz, ID Wizard - sounds, iPod downloads, sharing of Custom lists and the ability to add your own photos and comments to the species accounts. State and province titles now include The Birder's Handbook. A new title: "Birds of Canada" was released. Registration and passwords are no longer required to run the program. New v3.5.0 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Released April 29, 2005
3.1.3 Released October 28, 2003
-- For Windows. You will ONLY see version number 3.1.3 if you also have Birder's Diary v3 installed. This CD includes the same database as that included in Birder's Diary 3.0.0.
3.1.2 Released October 29, 2002
-- For Windows. This This free update added songs to the screen saver, added a "Hall of Fame" for the Quizzes, added bird banding codes, let song recordings "loop", fixed some minor bugs, made printing easier, made it easier to register over the Internet and made it easier to keep your software up to date. New v3.1.2 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
3.1.1 Released June 28, 2002
-- For Windows. This free update fixed minor bugs.
3.1.0 Released March 31, 2002
-- For Windows. "Our Birds" series was released with a separate CD for each state and province as well as three Families: Hawks, Warblers and Ducks. 108 new photos were added to the Guide to Birds of North America CD.
3.0.1 Released December 20, 2001
-- For Windows. This free update fixed the Barn Swallow, "Media not found", error and added a New quiz -- Birds at Suet Feeders (36 birds)
3.0.0 Released December 7, 2001
-- For Windows. This was a major release. Cornell Lab of Ornithology's name added to title. FeederWatcher's Guide to Backyard Birds also released. This is the first verson that ran on Windows XP. New v3.0.0 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
Windows XP Released August 24, 2001
Windows ME Released September 14, 2000
Windows 2000 Released February 17, 2000
2.5.1 released December 30, 1998
-- For Windows. This free update fixed a bug in the Setup.exe for CDs dated Nov 20, 1998.
2.5.0 released December 4, 1998
-- For Windows. Minor bug fixes. This was the first version that ran on Windows 98. New v2.5.0 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
2.0.3 released November 15, 1998
--For Windows. This free update fixed minor bug.
Windows 98 released June 25, 1998
2.0.0 released December 7, 1996
-- For Windows. This major release included multiple photos for each species. Included 925 North American species and over 2,700 photos. Ran on Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. New v2.0.0 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
Windows 95 released August 24, 1995
1.0.0 released December 15, 1994
-- For Windows. The original CD included one photo per species, a range map, abundance maps, quizzes and descriptions. Included 885 North American species and photos of 200 World birds. The Birder's Handbook was also included in electronic format. Ran on Windows 3.1. New v1.0.0 CD-ROM discs for Windows were manufactured.
Pre-release Beta version June 17, 1994
-- For Windows. A prototype featuring 24 birds was first displayed to the public at the American Birding Association convention in Minot, ND on June 17, 1994: the same day O. J. Simpson had his famous "car chase."
Windows 3.1 released April 6, 1992
Windows 3.0 released May 22, 1990
For questions about versions of Birder's Diary, please visit www.birdersdiary.com
Thayer Birding Software sold Birder's Diary to Jeff Jones on July 1, 2006.
Jeff was the chief programmer of Birder's Diary for many years, taking over from Dave Diehl.
We highly recommend (and personally use) the new version of Birder's Diary:
North American version 3.7 and the World version 3.7