LANIUS V5 Has Arrived

What is the North American Bird Reference Book?

What's New in the North American Bird Reference Book?

What's New in LANIUS Excalibur?

Release Dates and Pricing

Upgrade Purchase Options

JULY 2003: After two years in development, Version 5.0 of LANIUS Software’s North American Bird Reference Book (LANIUS V5) is now available! Read below for information about the MANY new features that are included in this latest version of the North American Bird Reference Book, release dates for the new software, and for instructions on how existing customers may upgrade at SUBSTANTIAL savings.

WHAT IS THE NORTH AMERICAN BIRD REFERENCE BOOK?
A visionary, multimedia CD-ROM experience for bird lovers, the North American Bird Reference Book is the bird lover's ULTIMATE information source. This instructional, multimedia software application was developed for all bird enthusiasts, ranging from the novice bird-watcher to the seasoned ornithologist. It has detailed species accounts for over 900 North American birds, providing a description of each bird's habitat, identifying field marks, distributional range, and a summary of its reproductive biology. The program is truly a full-featured multimedia application supported by more than 625 detailed range maps, 851 high-resolution photographs, and 415 songs or call notes for many of the bird species found in North America. Quizzes, essays, and helpful identification hints are provided for many of the popular birds in your area.

An optional bird listing (Life List) utility called LANIUS Excalibur is also produced by On My Mountain, Inc. Although it is sold separately, it is designed to run seamlessly alongside the North American Bird Reference Book. LANIUS Excalibur contains the names of all the birds known to exist in the world.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE NORTH AMERICAN BIRD REFERENCE BOOK?
What’s New in the North American Bird Reference Book? The following exciting features are now included:

• Version 5.2 FREE Upgrade! Click Here for more information and to order your free upgrade!
• COMPARE PHOTOS! The program now features the ability to compare the photograph of one species with that of another species on the same screen, allowing you to improve your identification skills of North American birds.
• IMPROVE YOUR IDENTIFICATION SKILLS. Speaking of improving your ability to identify birds, you can now create a Custom Query (consisting of just those birds you are interested in); then you can use that Custom Query to quiz yourself (with random bird pictures or songs), thereby improving your identification skills for the selected group of bird species!
• INSTANT VIEWING. As you switch from one bird species account to the next, an easily viewable thumbnail picture of the bird now appears on the Main Screen of the North American Bird Reference Book; it can be clicked with a mouse to view a larger image.
• WHAT BIRD WAS THAT? LANIUS Software’s Identification Matrix (which was introduced in Version 4) is still included, and allows you to identify a bird simply by specifying the field marks you saw (e.g., size of bird, color of feathers, length of bill, etc.).
• ONLINE ACCESS. LANIUS Software’s Internet Browser (which was also introduced in Version 4) is still included, and has been updated to provide you with access to 100 Internet web sites related to birds and bird watching.
• MORE AND MORE INFORMATION! Natural history accounts for the birds of North America have been newly revised, and now include information on the size of each bird (in inches) as well as the type(s) of food that each bird eats.
• CURRENT TAXONOMY. Changes in bird names that have occurred since the last release of our software in 2001 have been incorporated into the program. All bird names are consistent with the taxonomy found in James F. Clements’ Birds of the World, which is the same list used by the American Birding Association.
• USER FRIENDLY. Practically all screens can be resized to meet your individual viewing needs. Many additional cosmetic changes have also been introduced to enhance your overall experience with the software.

• KEY WORD ASSOCIATIONS. Use key words to annotate your individual bird observations to indicate when a nest was found, when young were observed, when a bird was singing, or when other observers were present. Generate flawless reports that query the database based on these key words. The ability to create an UNLIMITED number of key words now exists.
• MULTIPLE OBSERVERS, ONE DATABASE! Do you have multiple people in your household who are bird watchers and want to keep bird sighting records for everyone in a single database? You can now do so, by using the Key Word feature described above! Simply create a Key Word to represent a particular observer, and assign it to each bird sighting you create when that observer was present. Key Words can be toggled to automatically be associated with each new bird sighting that you create or to only be associated with a bird sighting when you explicitly request it.
• ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY. The ability to create a User-Defined Area has now been provided; most birders will use this to define an area such as the ABA (American Birding Association) reporting area. Once this area has been defined, you can tell the program whether each “Site” that is subsequently created in the database is located within or outside of your User-Defined Area. You can use this feature to create lists of birds that are found within your User-Defined Area. This optional feature provides enhanced transparent functionality to the LANIUS Excalibur database and will be of great interest to the demanding bird sighting database aficionado!
• MORE REPORTS. Additional reporting options are now included, bringing the total number of reporting options in LANIUS Excalibur to 79. You can print reports of your bird sightings based on one or more Key Words; and all sightings can be attributed to one or more observers. Each user of the database can maintain many different kinds of lists (e.g., state lists, county lists, Life Lists, lists for a specific site, backyard lists, etc.); there is no limit to the number of bird lists that can be entered into the software. You can even display the annual early and late migration dates for migratory bird species! What's more, all lists are automatically updated as you use the software.
• CURRENT TAXONOMY. Changes in bird names that have occurred since the last release of our software in 2001 have been incorporated into the program. All bird names are consistent with the taxonomy found in James F. Clements’ Birds of the World, which is the same list used by the American Birding Association
• USER FRIENDLY. Look at all the improvements we have made to make the program more user-friendly:
  
  
  
  • A Date Tool (i.e., a calendar) has now been added to the data entry and report generation screens that allows you to enter the date of interest by typing it in mm/dd/yyyy format (simply type the numbers; the Date Tool automatically fills in the slashes) OR by using your mouse to select a date from an intuitive, graphical calendar interface.
  
  
  • Finding or locating previously entered records in the Census and Observation Forms is made easier by allowing you to select the record of interest from a displayed list. Press the Find button or [CTRL-F] in the applicable form to access this feature.
  
  
  • The ability to specify a Major and Minor Area (i.e., State and County) in the Observation and Reference Forms is made easier via the addition of a Look Up ... button that has been placed on the screen.
  
  
  • Practically all screens can be resized to meet your individual viewing needs. Many additional cosmetic changes have also been introduced to enhance your overall experience with the software.

Please note that existing registered customers may upgrade to LANIUS V5 at substantial savings, which may also include a FREE copy of LANIUS Excalibur! For more information, please see below. Please note that Version 5.2 of LANIUS V5 and LANIUS Excalibur become available in January 2004.

UPGRADE PURCHASE OPTIONS
You may Upgrade to LANIUS V5 for just $37.95! Note: this price is only available to registered users only. Click Here to register your existing software now. LANIUS Excalibur is now sold separately.

Orders for the software may be placed immediately. All orders are delivered with a FREE installation of the 5.2 program update! If you have never owned a previous copy of the North American Bird Reference Book, please see the links under Release Dates and Pricing, above.