While Google Earth often gets the spotlight, Bing Maps offers some unique advantages for satellite and aerial imagery exploration. Microsoft's mapping service includes exclusive Bird's Eye imagery and often provides different perspectives than other mapping platforms.
What Makes Bing Maps Different
Bing Maps stands out from other mapping services in several important ways:
- Bird's Eye View: Oblique aerial photography captured from low-flying aircraft, showing buildings from an angled perspective
- Different imagery sources: Bing often uses different satellite and aerial imagery providers than Google, meaning you may see different dates or perspectives
- Streetside: Microsoft's alternative to Street View, with unique coverage in some areas
- Integration with Microsoft services: Seamless connection with Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products
Understanding Bird's Eye View
Bird's Eye is Bing Maps' signature feature and offers something truly unique in the mapping world. Unlike traditional satellite imagery that looks straight down, Bird's Eye captures images from an angle, typically around 40-45 degrees.
How Bird's Eye Works
Microsoft captures Bird's Eye imagery using specialized cameras mounted on low-flying aircraft. These planes fly systematic patterns over cities and populated areas, capturing overlapping images that are then processed and stitched together.
Bird's Eye Advantages
The angled perspective lets you see building facades, architectural details, and the sides of structures that are invisible in top-down satellite imagery. This makes it invaluable for real estate research, urban planning, and simply getting a more realistic view of an area.
Navigating Bird's Eye View
When in Bird's Eye mode, you can rotate the view to see a location from different cardinal directions (north, south, east, west). This allows you to examine all sides of buildings and get a complete picture of an area.
Accessing Satellite View in Bing Maps
Getting to satellite view in Bing Maps is straightforward:
- Go to bing.com/maps in your web browser
- Navigate to your location of interest
- Click the "Aerial" button in the map style selector
- To enable Bird's Eye (where available), zoom in and click the Bird's Eye toggle
Note that Bird's Eye imagery is only available in areas where Microsoft has captured aerial photography. This typically includes major cities and populated areas, but rural or remote locations may only have standard satellite imagery.
Comparing Bing and Google Imagery
Experienced satellite imagery users often check both Bing and Google because:
- Different capture dates: One service may have more recent imagery for a specific location
- Different angles: Bird's Eye vs. top-down can reveal different details
- Different resolution: Imagery quality varies by location and provider
- Cloud cover differences: One image might be clearer than the other
Smart Comparison Strategy
When researching a property or location, always check both Google Earth and Bing Maps. You'll often find that one has more recent imagery, better resolution, or simply a clearer view without clouds or shadows.
Bing Maps Features to Explore
Ordnance Survey Maps (UK)
For users exploring the United Kingdom, Bing Maps offers access to Ordnance Survey maps, which are incredibly detailed topographic maps showing footpaths, elevation contours, and landmarks.
Traffic Overlay
Even in aerial view, you can enable the traffic overlay to see real-time traffic conditions superimposed on the satellite imagery.
3D Cities
Major cities in Bing Maps include 3D building models that can be viewed from any angle, similar to Google Earth's 3D buildings feature.
Practical Applications
Real Estate Research
Bird's Eye view is particularly valuable for real estate. You can see:
- Roof condition and materials
- Backyard size and features
- Neighboring properties
- Building height and structure
- Parking availability
Travel Planning
Use Bing's aerial view to scope out hotels, beaches, and attractions before booking. The angled perspective gives you a better sense of what places actually look like than straight-down satellite imagery.
Event Planning
Planning an outdoor event? Use Bird's Eye to evaluate venue layouts, parking areas, and access points from multiple angles.
Tips for Better Exploration
- Check multiple angles: In Bird's Eye, rotate through all four directions to see every side of structures
- Compare with satellite: Toggle between Bird's Eye and standard aerial view to get the complete picture
- Use zoom strategically: Some areas have higher resolution at certain zoom levels
- Try different browsers: Bing Maps may perform better in Microsoft Edge, especially for 3D features
- Check date information: Look for imagery date stamps to know how current the images are
Explore with Our Tools
Our Earth Search extension lets you quickly switch between Bing Maps satellite view and Google Earth, making it easy to compare imagery.
Start ExploringKey Takeaways
- Bird's Eye view offers unique angled perspectives not available on other platforms
- Bing often has different imagery dates than Google, making it worth checking both
- Rotate Bird's Eye view to see buildings from all four directions
- Angled imagery is especially valuable for real estate and travel research
- 3D cities and Ordnance Survey maps add extra value in supported areas
