The word on the Bird

July 14, 2022 10:58 AM

The Merlin Bird App from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology draws upon 750 million eBird observations to help you identify a bird you just spotted. You can also upload a photo and let it do some AI-magic. "Merlin looks at the frequency of eBird reports from the area, and is able to give results more accurate than any field guide by using the local information on bird distribution provided by eBirders. And the computer vision tools that are used to identify the image? They’re developed from the images that [people] have added to the Macaulay Library—more than 1.85 million photos over the past 13 months."
posted by storybored (41 comments total)

I recently got this app, and for me the even cooler thing that it does is identify birds by their song and then provide you with other recordings of the same species for comparison.
posted by firechicago at 11:03 AM on July 14, 2022 [21 favorites]

Merlin is fantabulous
posted by Going To Maine at 11:04 AM on July 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

we LOVE merlin. its sound recording component can identify multiple birds in the same clip you record, and is pretty good at filtering out city noise too......
posted by lalochezia at 11:10 AM on July 14, 2022 [5 favorites]

Also in the same vein, SEEK, by iNaturalist.
posted by lalochezia at 11:11 AM on July 14, 2022 [13 favorites]

It is a pretty wonderful app. Helped identify some Cooper's Hawks in my backyard. They won't generally mess with dogs so I could relax a little.
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:15 AM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

Was just coming to post that, @lalochezia! I love both of those apps so much. I used both during the everyone-at-home phase of the pandemic while going on outdoor walks with my daughter, and learning about the flora and fauna in our neighborhood. We were both fascinated, and now she knows the names of most of the trees and birds around here!
posted by heyitsgogi at 11:16 AM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

I like to sit on my balcony and run the sound identifier & see who's around. I like it when it says "Lesser Goldfinch" along with some other birds who aren't there but the goldfinches are imitating. And yes I do have a favorite lesser goldfinch song. (The one that goes "Awoo? Awoo? Awoo? AwEEEEEE!")
posted by bleep at 11:17 AM on July 14, 2022 [6 favorites]

little lurk & i tease the cats with birdsong samples.
also little lurk makes up preposterous descriptions of birds they claim to have seen.
posted by 20 year lurk at 11:17 AM on July 14, 2022 [3 favorites]

For people in northern Europe* I’d suggest ObsIdentify instead of SEEK (but try both). I prefer the workflow, especially since I’m much more likely to ID something I’ve already photographed rather than trying to use it in-camera. And I like the way it offers IDs with a percentage confidence, even if it’s sometimes 100% confident about wrong answers.

Honestly both of them are simultaneously miraculous and terrible; it’s amazing they work as well as they do, given the scale of the problem, but when they are wrong they can be very wrong.

[* Observation.org is based in the Netherlands. I’ve only tried it in and around London, I don’t know how well it works further afield]
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 11:51 AM on July 14, 2022

I just recently had a very satisfying camping weekend where Merlin was part of my morning coffee process. Absolutely amazing what it can do just from birdsong.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:59 AM on July 14, 2022

Nthing Merlin app and Seek. Merlin app has region "packs" containing the most common birds in your region so you often don't even have to take a photo or recording to identify a bird, just scroll through birds of its type in the pack. Seek, well, my SO and I started seriously using it a few days ago and in that time have identified nearly 100 different plants and have posted photos thereof to iNaturalist, which Seek is connected to. We joke we're playing RL Pokemon now and are filling out our Pokedex. Only downside now is that our walks are taking twice as long now as every 5 feet we go "Ooh, new plant, photograph it!".
posted by mochi_cat at 12:02 PM on July 14, 2022 [5 favorites]

I only recently discovered the sound aspect of Merlin and I love it so much. I had no idea that regular old American robins sing so beautifully and I was delighted to discover that the marsh next to my regular dog walk is full of marsh wrens, which seems very appropriate of them.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:17 PM on July 14, 2022 [2 favorites]

Love this app! We use it in our backyard. Found out we have way more kinds of birds around than I would have assumed.
posted by joannemerriam at 12:54 PM on July 14, 2022

If you want to start logging your observations, eBird and iNaturalist are both great options to keep track of what you see and hear. Both also have helpful communities of lurking experts who can help validate observations.
posted by hessie at 12:59 PM on July 14, 2022

For birdsong, I’ve had great success with Song Sleuth, which has good tools for letting you visually isolate the particular sounds you’re trying to ID.

And +1 for Seek, which btw can visually ID (camera or photo roll) not only birds and plants, but also mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, insects, spiders, and fungi!
posted by LEGO Damashii at 1:10 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

How much a cyborg bird nerd I am?

I have a superzoom bridge camera to enhance my vision and a wristband swiveling phone holder so I can merlin on the fly without letting go of my camera to enhance my hearing. Next I am getting an exoskeleton....
posted by srboisvert at 1:22 PM on July 14, 2022 [6 favorites]

When I first moved to Florida I downloaded Merlin to identify the huge birds that tried to climb up on my porch. They were Red headed Sandhill Cranes, and I was hooked.
posted by Splunge at 1:53 PM on July 14, 2022 [6 favorites]

The Merlin sound ID and photo ID functions do work pretty well, and I'm glad they provide another way for people learn about and appreciate birds and birds songs. They can be wrong, though, which sometimes becomes an issue when people report the app IDs as sightings to eBird.

As mentioned by hessie above, eBird is a great way to keep track of what you've seen. But it's more than that, too. Many avid birders peruse eBird looking for sightings of birds they want to see, particularly rare birds, and they'll sometimes travel quite a ways to see them. Even more importantly, it's a huge database of bird sightings that's used for research. It must be the largest citizen science project in the world.

So it turns out that incorrect reports submitted to eBird can cause problems for other birders and scientists. I assume the boffins at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have statistical methods for reducing the impact of incorrect IDs in the database. Birders have to use their own instincts and knowledge to determine which sightings are likely legitimate. Sightings of rare birds are reviewed by humans (I'm one of them, for my county), and the reporting of unlikely birds relying solely on Merlin IDs is becoming more common. It's easy enough to filter them out if photographs or descriptions aren't provided in addition to Merlin's opinion.

I'm not claiming this is a huge problem by any means, or that there aren't safeguards in place to minimize the impact. Over all, I think the technologies we're talking about are fantastic, and are great at getting people to engage more with nature. I do think it is an interesting consequence of evolving technology, though, that's probably worth thinking about.
posted by mollweide at 2:42 PM on July 14, 2022 [3 favorites]

The Song ID is fabulous. It was available for Android well before the IOS app had it, and I was very jealous when my brother showed it to me.

And n'th-ing Seek, which is about the greatest app ever for backyard nature nerds.
posted by jquinby at 3:08 PM on July 14, 2022

Yes yes the technology is amazing but can we all appreciate the wordplay in the name? *Chef's kiss*
posted by Wretch729 at 3:24 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

And n'th-ing Seek, which is about the greatest app ever for backyard nature nerds.

I was on a nature walk last night where an actual naturalist used Seek to identify a cool bug we saw.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 4:29 PM on July 14, 2022

I have almost 1,500 pics on ebird, of 207 species. This year one of my birding goals is to get a good pic of every type of bird I’ve seen in my local park (I fear I will never get a good picture of a common nighthawk).

I love Merlin for sound ID but am in the habit of using google lens for pic ID. I think I’ve told nearly everybody I know about Merlin though, I love it so much. I also point out that it is suggestions, and not to be taken as gospel. I use the app just as often as a field guide to look up birds to verify if I have doubts. Glad this tool exists right when I become a serious birder!
posted by oomny at 4:32 PM on July 14, 2022 [7 favorites]

I also point out that it is suggestions, and not to be taken as gospel.

This is a perfect way to think about these apps.
posted by mollweide at 5:30 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have a pair of Carolina wrens nesting in a maple across the alley; I was able to ID them through song but the wee scallywags are so quick and subtle I haven't been able to get a good picture of either of them. This will always be the summer of Those Frustrating Little Brown Birds.
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 5:30 PM on July 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

Good to know about the song ID feature. I've been using Merlin for a few years and that's a new feature. I had to grab a few other apps a while back to figure out who was making which sound.

Working from home has led to a lot of extra time in the back yard listening to the birds.
posted by freakazoid at 7:00 PM on July 14, 2022

I meant to post this last month when someone told me about it, but completely forgot about it. Thanks! It's very cool.
posted by eotvos at 10:29 PM on July 14, 2022

(also, the recordings and visuals of the songs are great fun)
posted by eotvos at 10:30 PM on July 14, 2022

Bird…internet?



Also love Merlin so much.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:06 PM on July 14, 2022

I wonder how well it works on movie sounds
posted by DreamerFi at 12:00 AM on July 15, 2022

I was sitting in the porch with my wife and a friend, pointing out some of the songs a mockingbird was running through - red tailed hawk, goldfinch, bluejay. Friend pulled up the song ID app and it flickered through the species that inspired the songs, but did not correctly identify the current source.
posted by carrioncomfort at 2:50 AM on July 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

It’s so great to hear so many people are absolutely chuffed about Merlin & eBird - the Cornell Lab of O is a stone’s throw away from our house - so it’s with no small amount of local pride to read this thread!

We plan our travel around avian-dorking opportunities - thanks all for the SEEK recommendation as well. Happy birding!
posted by sic semper bibulus at 3:48 AM on July 15, 2022 [4 favorites]

My introduction to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology was a 15-minute weekly radio show entitled "Know Your Birds", broadcast Saturday mornings during the mid-60s on the Cornell owned radio station WHCU. As I recall it consisted pretty much entirely of a professor naming birds & then playing recordings of their calls. The production values resembled those of Monty Python's The Larch sketch, but without the visual aids.
posted by mr vino at 7:37 AM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Merlin has greatly enhanced my pleasure in the birds. Those Carolina Wrens are amazingly LOUD, for such tiny little things! And what I never knew, one of my personal favorite bird calls is a White-throated Sparrow. But I live in a bird paradise, with trees all around and plenty of clearing, and a couple ponds. More different kinds of woodpecker than I can list. LOL. Love the call from the red-breasted one.
posted by Goofyy at 8:59 AM on July 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

I assume the boffins at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have statistical methods for reducing the impact of incorrect IDs in the database.

It's not that difficult to avoid dubious reports. eBird lists bird sightings as "confirmed" or "unconfirmed". Each reported sighting is listed and you can also review the field notes, pictures, audio on the reported sighting. Moreover, you can cross-reference the birding stats of who reported the sighting.

If you are avid about audio IDs, I'd suggest checking out the BirdNET app, which IDs, but also reports information about the confidence in the ID.
posted by borges at 9:21 AM on July 15, 2022

eBird lists bird sightings as "confirmed" or "unconfirmed"

Only sightings that trip the filters for rare or unusually large numbers get reviewed for confirmation. The vast majority of sightings don't trip the filters and are never reviewed, which is why I assume the scientists that use the sightings database for research have ways for accounting for incorrect data.
posted by mollweide at 9:43 AM on July 15, 2022

Also, an "unconfirmed" sighting is one that has tripped the filter but hasn't been reviewed yet. If it's deemed unconfirmable by a reviewer, it won't be visible to the public, just to the person who reported it.
posted by mollweide at 10:08 AM on July 15, 2022

I assume the scientists that use the sightings database for research have ways for accounting for incorrect data.

Yes, they have multiple ways to standardize and correct the data. It's pretty interesting.
posted by borges at 11:27 AM on July 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

(I fear I will never get a good picture of a common nighthawk).

I fear I will never hear one again. Their peent! peent! peent!'s were the best part of the hot summer night soundscape on Capitol Hill back in the 80s.

But their numbers have diminished, their migratory pattern has changed and they don't come into Seattle anymore. I miss their calls.
posted by y2karl at 11:41 AM on July 15, 2022

Just this weekend I saw what I thought was an egret on the Boone Fork off the Blue Ridge Trail near Boone NC. Not exactly classic egret territory. The Merlin ID a bird with Q&A tool came up zero. The photo ID said Great Blue Heron, but it wasn't white. And it would be rare to see it where I saw it, about 4000 feet above sea level. It was completely gray. I finally figured out that an immature Great Blue can be gray, and that is what I finally submitted to ebird. I probably spent 30 minutes trying to decide what I saw. That is my first "rare" sighting. It is in the migration path for a Great Blue, I guess it just decided it hang around. Picture if you are interested.
posted by COD at 2:22 PM on July 17, 2022

I typed that backwards up above - it's the egret that should be white.
posted by COD at 2:29 PM on July 17, 2022

Just spent a week in Isle Royale, and forgot to reset my “find birds” location to that area prior to going off grid, so Merlin couldn’t be used offline. Which meant I spent time trying to snap blurry zoomed in photos of birds so that I could later tag them with the PhotoID feature. (The weird diving bird my son and I super-enjoyed watching turned out to be a red necked grebe, the spotty fluffy babies were quite cute!). I am not at all a birder, but I have had a lot of fun adding birds to my life list in the app. Bonus, if you use PhotoID you can go back through your old mobile phone shots and add past sightings. The geolocation tags in the image are automatically used to infer time, date, and location, which is nice.

My one gripe: knowing damn well what bird I am looking at, and not being able to simply TELL Merlin “hey I see a common loon”. There was a kingfisher in the creek by our last campsite, and I could not get a photo of it (too fast!) but after seeing it grabbing small fish and flying off, wanted to add it to my list. I could not get Merlin to suggest “belted kingfisher” as an option no matter what I did. There are apparently options somewhere to flip from “most likely birds” to “all birds in installed packs” to increase odds of a match, but I didn’t know this at the time…
posted by caution live frogs at 5:21 AM on July 18, 2022 [1 favorite]