Merlin Bird ID By Cornell Lab Customer Service

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab Positive Reviews

Loads of funLet me begin by stating I never use the original function of describing the bird I see. If I can see it that we’ll, chances are I can identify it without Merlin. The same goes with the photo ID feature—if I can get close enough and get a good enough look , I can ID the bird as well as Merlin can. I have tested out the photo ID, and I believe it would be a useful tool for beginners. Be aware that it’s not perfect: it has just as hard a time distinguishing between sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks as I do. Where the app really shines is in the sound ID. At first I was a little skeptical. One of the first times I used it it thought that one bird was both a common raven and an American crow. Same thing with some gulls. It thought there was both a California and Herring gull. I eventually found one I could call a California, the Herring gull never materialized. It also thought there was a tundra swan, but upon reviewing the recording, there was nothing there, and definitely no swan within my sight. The more I have used it, however, the more confident I become in its ID power. Generally, if Merlin disagrees with what I thought the sound was, I’ll try to track it down and find it. And more often than not, I find what Merlin told me was there. But the most fun I have had with this app was watching a northern mockingbird singing while Merlin picked out thirteen different bird songs that one mockingbird had learned and incorporated into its repertoire..Tory MathisVersion: 2.1.1

Great for a beginner like meI love birds and want to learn more about them. I have been hesitant to join birdwatchers as I’ve heard via birder email lists the experienced birders can be impatient and critical of newbies and also make it hard for newbies to join any groups. It’s like breaking into a click. That said, I felt I needed to learn before I even got started so I tried Merlin ID. I have used all 3 tools and find each one useful. I’m most excited about the sound ID though. This app is not perfect and you should question a match that seems questionable, like if it gives you a “rare” match. Do some research by listening to the call options to see if the match is authentic. This app also doesn’t recognize every bird. But, when there isn’t a match just submit the recording to Merlin so they can further improve the app. It is constantly improving and can only do that if we all help out. One day, I heard a bird but couldn’t see it. The sound tool identified the bird so then I knew what to look for and sure enough, I was able to visually identify said bird! I was super excited and encouraged. I also enjoy reading about each bird, the various photos and learning the different calls and songs. I’ve begun to share this with my daughter and grandkids when we take walks. My grandson lights up when he is able to see photos of the birds he is hearing and he’s only 2.5. Fun for the whole family!.Scuba NonnaVersion: 3.0

Changed my life. Seriously.This app opened my eyes to the world around me. I was never into birds before. I started using it after moving to a more wooded neighborhood in Nashville because I’d never heard so many birds and just wanted to see what was making all these sounds. I was shocked at the numbers of birds around me that I’d never taken the time to see or hear. Thanks to Merlin, I can now identify at least 20 birds by their songs and calls alone and I never knew how happy that would make me. More importantly, and totally unexpectedly, it helped me develop a daily mindfulness routine that was missing in my life before. I have a high stress job in healthcare. Merlin taught me to completely quiet my mind before and after work by being still, listening, and watching. I’d gotten so bogged down by life and stress that many of the little joys and wonders around me had become invisible. That’s no longer the case. Merlin has enriched my life and contributed to my well being and health in a way that sounds incredibly corny and fluffy to describe but it’s absolutely true. Now I’m proudly that weirdo who stops in the parking lot, looks up, and says “there’s a red shouldered hawk somewhere around here.” And it makes me smile before I keep walking to do whatever I need to do that day, a little more amazed by something beautiful in the world. Thank you Cornell and everyone who made this possible..Papaboy the BirderVersion: 3.1

Very good app and room to continue to improveI love so many functionalities in Merlin Bird ID from the Sound (record and automatic sound identification), to the Photo (identify from photos), to the Explore options. The incremental improvements over time have been much appreciated. Unfortunately, with the new version that had a major redesign of the home screen, I ran into a few problems, so I rate this as a solid 4 Stars. Honestly, I preferred the layout of the prior version by far and not just because I was used to it. Anyway, I ran into two problems with the new version that was automatically installed. First, the Explore function wasn't loading, and I tried closing it and reopening with no success. So, I deleted the app from my iPhone. It didn't provide me a notice that all my sound recordings would not be reloaded when I re-installed the app, so it appears that I no longer have access to them. Unlike other apps that reload files, it appears that Merlin does not offer that which is very disappointing. Second, I wish users had the option to choose the placement of the Sound (start recording) and Cancel (stop recording) buttons. I don't like the new location of the Cancel button especially being next to the Sound farther away from its prior location. I don't save most recordings, and I would prefer to not accidentally save the recordings. One problem with each version is recordings failed to be saved properly. For some unknown reason, they fail to save the birds identified and the recording itself. Overall, I still love this tool though!.NickRobertVersion: 3.1

Amazing tool, but a few minuscule issuesThis app is amazing. I use it every time I go bird watching, and it is far more efficient than most of the manuals I own. However, it is not without its minor faults. The first and most blaring is the fact that Isee many birds with many more than only 3 colors, and when I see birds with only 3 or less colors they might be different colors than I have the options I have to pick from! I understand that there are limitations that make it difficult, but the app would be that closer to perfect if you added more colors and the option to pick more than three colors. The other issue is that on a very slim chance I cant find the bird im looking for! This is for the most part my fault, but I think that sometimes it is because the bird isn’t on the list of birds registered on the app. It could also be because of the pictures of the birds do not include all or most variations of the bird I see, so I cannot confirm my sighting. If the roster of birds was filled up more, and there was more pictures, then all of those problems would be solved! It is such a great app with such great features and it almost never fails me. The only issues it has are so minor, or could be fixed in an update soon, that it makes them nearly irrelevant. Because of all of this the app is virtually perfect, and i recommend all bird watchers newbies and veterans alike to download this app..Jimmyjummy69Version: 1.4.2

MERLIN AUDIO MIGHT HEAR WHAT YOU DON’TI started birdwatching in 1962 thanks to Wellfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary day camp. I’ve been birding whenever I can and at 72 I’m retired and birding more often than ever but often alone and in unfamiliar regions and habitats. Merlin audio is a God-send for my aging ears. I’ve developed an MO which helps me optimize my observations. 1) When I get out of the car I tern on Merlin Audio while I begin scanning with my binos or scope. By the time I’ve scanned Merlin has a shortlist of species closest to me. 2) Sometimes Merlin has hear a waxwing or a creeper my ears didn’t register. 3) when I’m at an unfamiliar location Merlin IDs species I didn’t recognize. 4) In migration there are unexpected birds or birds whose vocalizations are different than breeding season. 5) With multiple species dining and calling at once I would most likely miss/ignore the bird least familiar to me (which is the opposite of my objective to find new species) Merlin “knows” the location based on data input and is more likely to hear a new species and ID it correctly than I might be. 6) Background does pose a problem for my ears and it can confound Merlin as well. Sometime Merlin picks the loudest voice in the forest thinking that is the bird I am approaching.7) when I’m looking for a rarity Merlin might not believe my ID but if the rarity was already seen there by many e-birders, Merlin will signal me that I’ve found my bird. MERLIN will never be as good as my brother Jeff. But with Merlin in my pocket I’m never alone!.MWH Goshawk - Los AngelesVersion: 3.6.1

Great free app.This is a fun and easy to use bird ID app. Generally I know the birds in my area but I don’t know all their calls and some birds are similar. Once you’ve recorded and stop, you can click on the green arrows and there are examples of all their calls (though some alarm calls are missing). On a early spring morning when birds are chatty and finding mates, I’ve picked up 17 birds. However, I think two of them were really a Mockingbird imitating a Purple Martin and Kildeer on the shoreline and I hadn’t seen either. So, it’s good to listen to a Mockingbird’s own sounds and if a bird you haven’t seen comes up quickly with the Mockingbird, it may not be Merlin’s fault. It did pick up the sound of my door opening as a Loon but we don’t have any. When signing up, when you choose the pack it’s good to choose your area so there are less mistakes. The photo ID works pretty well so far. When you explore birds in the app, some birds say rare that really aren’t, e.g. Mergansers have become common in the winters here mostly in brackish waters. It’s possible that it might mix up juvenile hawks that all have white breasts with brown drippy markings. You can go to Cornell Lab’s website and learn how to recognize their differences, the length of their tail feathers being one way. It’s helpful and fun and surprisingly picks up bird sounds even when there’s traffic noise..Kristen266Version: 2.1.8

Even better as the years go byI’ve been a user of this app for long enough that I can’t remember when exactly I started using it. I’m not an advanced birder and I like to pack as light as possible when I go birding or hiking so it comes in handy. I mostly used the step-by-step ID in the early days, but as my interest in attentively listening to and photographing birds has grown, I find myself using the sound and photo ID features more. They’re excellent! I especially love to use this app when visiting my family in Oaxaca, Mexico or my fiancé’s family on O’ahu and Hawai’i Island, despite sound ID being less reliable there (though I’m pleased that the app is up front about this, and when the singing birds are in sight I’ve even wondered if I could contribute identification to the recordings rather than just the other way around). The latest UI update streamlines the IA in a way that’s intuitive to my interests, and at the top of my priorities is the Life List! I really appreciate the fact that I don’t have to go through the ID process to mark a bird as a lifer anymore (a year or two ago when that wasn’t possible I was agonizing over not being able to get the step-by-step ID to show me Bald Eagles). Merlin Bird ID is an amazing app and invaluable asset to me as a bird enthusiast, I really appreciate all the work that goes into it!!.AmeziroVersion: 3.2

The best birding app you will ever use!I have used this app for years now. This app offers several ways to identify an unknown bird you saw. The primary way to identify birds is sound ID. It identifies birds through your phones microphone. However, it can make mistakes. You should study the calls provided by the app, but not all calls you hear will be there. Sound ID can help you quite a bit in finding birds you cannot see. A rare bird may be listed by sound id, but it is probably an error. I had a red-winged blackbird call claimed to be an American Pipit. Sound ID is still very useful, just don't trust it all the time as it is just a suggestion. Photo ID is the best way to identify birds, and supports far more birds than sound ID. Photo ID is far more accurate. But getting a good photo of an elusive bird can be difficult. If you have no photos or sound ID recordings of the bird, you can use the apps traditional method that asks you basic information, such as the size, colors, and behavior of the bird you saw. While the method isn't the best method, it can help with getting an idea of what the bird you saw might be. The app contains thousands of photos and audio recordings to download in bird packs. Bird packs contain photos, ID information, sound recordings and a description of the bird. This app is still the best birding app out there!.KeithandmarchantVersion: 3.3.1

Beyond incredible. But some room for improvementOverall, this is the best app I’ve ever downloaded because it makes birding so accessible and soo much easier, especially when you’re first getting started. I can’t imagine using guidebooks to learn, I’m certain this app helps shave years off the learning curve because the step-by-step, photo, and sound ID features are all incredible and best of all it’s free. The sound ID is sometimes way off but mostly extremely helpful, and I’m sure that’s a difficult software to perfect. I love the exciting pop-up when I log a new lifer and how I can browse birds in my area by type. My main criticism is that you can’t edit the first time you see a bird. Sometimes I misidentify a bird (ex: I submitted a photo of a bufflehead and the app only showed me the hooded merganser, so I thought it was that and logged it as my bird. Then I was browsing duck species and realized my photo is 100% of a bufflehead, so now my life list is wrong and I can’t remove the merganser from it) or I log them with the wrong date or place and it can’t be revised. Not the end of the world, but the life list is such a nice feature that it would be even better if I could edit it so it’s actually accurate as I learn new things. Thanks for your amazing work!!.JPrice077538Version: 3.5

Amazing App for easy Bird IDThis app is wonderful! I knew next to nothing about birds until a Eastern Goldfinch landed in my bird bath one day spurring interest into exactly what the name of this beautiful bird was. I searched inline but characteristics I described didn’t help me find what I was looking for so I checked in the App Store for a bird identification app finding many games but only a couple of identification apps I downloaded 3 but found this to be the best for me. Since then I have become an avid bird watcher! The app is easy to use even for me. I was disabled by a drunk driver in 05’ & fed up with tv so great to find a hobby I can enjoy outdoors. Even my parents joined in & my daddy after suffering a head injury himself in 2011 took up the hobby along with wood working. Together we would make feeders & houses to help attract more birds. He would build & I would paint different types of houses I researched on the website to help attract birds of all types. Unfortunately We lost him to cancer in February of this year (2018) but the time we spent birding together these past 7 years is something I’ll always hold near & dear to my heart. Thanks so much to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds in the Hand, & the developers of the Merlin Bird ID for providing us with this wonderful app that has given me some very sweet memories & a wonderful hobby..Cconner79Version: 1.3.9

Handy app is fun but could be even betterIn many ways this is an amazing app. Lots of photos and vocalizations make for a great reference. When I first started using it the photo matching was incredible and helpful, but mostly just fun. When sound ID was added I was blown away by the sensitivity and sheer usefulness of a tool like this. The first iteration didn’t seem to discriminate by range very well and would give suggestions of nearly impossible birds. This was quickly corrected and it became a fantastic resource. The app was especially useful to help validate a rarer species encountered or an unfamiliar call of more common species. At some point the software was updated to no longer suggest any species of bird in an area that would be considered rare, by range or season. This is very frustrating and makes the app near useless birders above a beginner level of experience. I have had the app refuse to ID a bird vocalizing at ear spitting levels that I could see, hear and identify easily. This is somewhat akin to a field guide with pages missing for any bird considered rare in a region. What good is it ? Maybe ebird doesn’t want to be overwhelmed with sightings that need validating. It was always understood that this app isn’t 100% accurate in every case just giving most likely matches. Observers always need to double check the suggested list of birds triggered, but blocking the app from indicating species present doesn’t make it better. I hope this decision is revisited and an education effort for proper use is undertaken instead of dumbing down the performance..Gary in IthacaVersion: 3.2

Best free birding appThis app got me started with birding. Last spring, I downloaded it to start identifying the common birds around me like American Robins, European Starlings, Common Grackles, and Northern Mockingbirds. Soon, I moved from merely identifying birds to counting them also, and soon after, I started recording full checklists with the EBird app (I think also a product of the Cornell School of Ornithology?), which is the best solution for those who wish this app would record their sightings. Now, less than a year later, I have 150 species on my list and have found a new lifelong hobby that I expect to bring me joy for decades to come. It’s all thanks to Merlin! Though I eventually found that a high quality illustrated field guide (I use Sibleys in the US and Collins in Europe) is more useful than any app, I still reference Merlin for sounds or any time I don’t have my guide on me. I was very excited when Merlin came out with bird packs for Europe right before I traveled to Greece this past fall, and I look forward to seeing more bird packs coming out for other parts of the world as time goes on. It’s fun to scroll through the foreign packs and dream about traveling to new places and seeing those birds. I’d glad that when I do go, I’ll have Merlin with me to help identify them!.SuperduperdoVersion: 1.3.7

Algorithm problemIt has come to my attention that the algorithm used to show likely birds in a region is flawed. The algorithm occasionally causes rare birds to appear common at certain hotspots. My guess to how this happens is likely due to the birding community discovering a rare bird and sharing that info with their community. Then people from all over show up and enter the bird into eBird. This causes a large number of people to report the same single bird. As a result the algorithm will occasionally tell you birds like a scissor-tailed flycatcher is common at Arcadia Marsh, MI. When as far as I can tell it was only seen on one day by many people. Or it could tell you that a lazuli bunting or a painted bunting are common at Whitefish Point, MI when in fact there are very few historic reporting a of either of those birds statewide. An improvement could be made by changing the algorithm to factor in the number of birds reported per checklist for example (10 trumpeter swans) along with the number of days the bird has been seen over a period of time. This would prevent anomalous inaccurate results for a single bird that was seen up to hundreds of times on only 1 day. Aside from that the app is excellent at what it was made to do. As a predictive tool of what birds you may find in a given region, extra research is required to double check Merlin’s findings..Paulite31Version: 1.7.4

Peregrine FalconI observed the many peregrine falcons that the city brought to do away with reduce the pigeon population in fact what they reduced is migrating birds given they were exhausted from their long flights. The falcons had their nest in one tall building and in an adjacent building they ate their catch leaving bones spread over the entire roof point is the eight and left bones in a distinctly different area than where they nested and where they perched to hunt. My corner office had a ledge right outside my window where they would stand and when they saw an animal below them a bird below them they would dive at a speed that looked unreal. It was so fast they have special eye coverings when they’re diving reduce in affect of the wind on their eyes there are particular ravenous birds and can hunt often most of the day did janitors in the building where they left their bones had to go up and eliminate the bones at least once every three months they were so numerous shows they don’t exist in Chicago but indeed they exist in distinct enough so that a bird watcher could observe them they were brought in specifically to eliminate our large pigeon flocks but that failed miserably. The pigeon built like a bowling ball could make dramatically quick reversal of motion turns and it’s very hard for falcon Tom White.Global BullVersion: 3.1.1

Helps me find so many birds!**Update Feb. 2025 - I can now add birds to my life list through the “explore birds” area when I know what it is. The app is now perfect!** I absolutely love this app! I have used it for several years now, and I especially love the addition of the sound ID. It has helped me find so many birds that I did not know were in my area, including Baltimore Orioles. I’m now able to put out feeders during migration season and bring them into my yard. I have also used the bird calls that are in the app to play and bring birds into my yard once I see the sound ID has shown them. All of the options for identifying birds are wonderful, but the sound ID is the one I use the most now. It listens for and identifies multiple birds at a time just from hearing them in the area. I’ve also gotten a few other people to download the app and they love it too. If you love, discovering birds, you need to use this app. If there was one addition to the app I could make, it would be to be able to add a bird to my life list without having to go through one of the ID options. Sometimes you already know what a bird is and just want to log it, and they are all listed in the area to explore birds..Dolphin_girl_72Version: 3.5

The best set of extra earsI have been using versions of Merlin for four years now, and it has consistently gotten better over time. When used properly, it’s like having a friend who has “ear birded” for decades along with you, catching things that may (if you’re like me) be outside your hearing range because of tinnitus or other hearing loss. But you have to be aware of the limitations of AI sound recognition and not use Merlin as your only way of tallying the birds around you. Merlin can occasionally “hallucinate” a bird recognition because of collisions of other noises that have sound prints similar to the bird in question. Camera shutter noises can be mistaken by the software for a Great Blue Heron, for example, or a squeaking piece of gear for a Killdeer. Being aware of which birds are likely to be where you are and paying attention to the probability score that comes up for each bird detected are important in using Merlin for ID in the field. If a bird is rare where you are, and it only pops up on Merlin once, and you didn’t hear it yourself, it probably isn’t there and you should not put that ID on eBird. Always use the detection as a prompt to look for the bird or listen for it yourself, not as a reason for a sighting all by itself. Stability of the app has improved greatly, but it still depends on microphone access not being interrupted by other apps. Cellular signal strength may affect whether you can save a session. It is best to use the app for periods of no more than 10 minutes at a time to make sure you can save sessions quickly and reliably in my experience. This app is free, but if you use it frequently you should definitely donate to Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology to support the technical and scientific work behind it and eBird..PacketratVersion: 3.8.4

Nothing Short of AmazingThe speed and sensitivity of the Sound ID function is startling. It appears to be able to process several birds at nearly the same time. I can’t speak to it’s accuracy yet, because I haven’t had that many opportunities to visually confirm the sound IDs. But even if accuracy is only ok (and I suspect it’s much, much better than that), the app has already been invaluable to me as a novice birder. It has sped up my learning tremendously. Hearing the actual call as the app gives the bird’s name, and then seeing pictures of that type of bird on the app - this is exactly what I need to build those associations in my memory. And then being able to read a bit about it’s behavior and listen to the variety of its calls and songs provides context, and hones in on consistencies and variations of that bird’s call. Watching the app sort out the calls of over half a dozen birds as they call and respond in the morning, again and again, is really helping me learn how to tell them apart and name them. I’ve taken two birding classes and I use two different field guides, but none of those have helped me learn birds as much as this app. This is exactly what I needed!.Passage MakerVersion: 2.1.1

Best resource for the novice birder.I’ve had this app for a few years now and just wanted to test it out. It’s probably not very helpful that I’m just now getting around to it. I was initially pretty disappointed at first because the number of species specific to Alaska was fairly limited. It took a little time, but they rolled out regional specific bird packs. It just blew up from there and became my go-to app for identifying birds. The photo ID feature is pretty great, but limited only by the quality of my phone camera. It’s usually pretty accurate though. I’ve just gotten way more interested in birds I really didn’t pay attention to before! The app is great and if you enjoy birds of all sizes in your area, chances are this app will be instrumental in identifying them. I think I use it more than any other app I have. Oh yeah, I also really love the bird sounds feature. This is also very useful when you can’t necessarily see the bird, but you might have a close idea of what it could be. Do check it out, this is well put together app overall. I wonder if they’ll have a feature where you could identify simply by recording a song or a call? I’m excited for any new developments in the future!.Afree76Version: 1.4.2

Great, but could be smoother and quicker for sound identificationThis app has helped me learn and pay attention to sound qualities I didn’t used to discern, vastly increasing the accuracy of my birding by ear. My most frequent frustration is when I lose the chance to record an infrequent sound, because it can take so many clicks and scrolls to get to the Start new recording activator. I wish as soon as I open the screen, no matter whether I last looked at data for a bird with twenty song and call variations, or if there was no match, or if there were 8 species heard, that I could see and touch the Record function in one step. Instead, the passing bird is gone out of range too often, or stopped calling or singing. My second frustration is that there’s no quick way (at least that I have found) to delete a recording in which the target wasn’t registered. I wish there was a Delete last recording button right on the screen with the No match report, and also on ones where a plane or truck noise took over the recording. All that said, I often recommend this app to birders who haven’t tried it yet. Thanks.Tina B VTVersion: 2.1.5

Poor update to a formerly excellent appI have loved this app for the last two years. I had a backyard, bird habitat and very soon I learned all the birds that were in my backyard. Then I moved on to fields and trails, but it convinced me to help research with the Ebird ID app, which is not that good. Merlin‘s update to their app, now Let’s me see seven birds on the screen instead of the original eight. Which is important when your screenshot it so that you can see what you’ve heard as you try to put it into the corresponding Ebird app. plus merlin is NOT nearly as accurate as it was a 12-18 months ago, when most of these great reviews were written. and after you sign up with E- bird to help them, you lose the most important thing to many new users, which is the celebratory fireworks ! its gone, doesnt exist in Merlin after you use Ebird! If I hadnt identified 110 species, and wasnt really invested in this app. I would completely delete the Ebird app. Just so I could have my confetti back in Merlin when I find a new species. There’s lots of incentive for them to get us to use EBird, but not a lot of incentive for us to use it. I haven’t seen any confetti gifs in over eight months and I have come up with 12 new birds, but I don’t even know about it ! Merlin doesnt announce it or tell me ive discovered a new species. And quite honestly, there’s not a lot of incentive to continue with it. except I like hearing the birds daily to test my knowledge. But theres no joy in it anymore. the writers took it away. E bird is so much harder to use and by using it, I lost the joy in Merlin that got me started on my ipad finding many new species on my life list..ArthavenVersion: 3.7.1

Download for Loads of Birding Fun!I started this app about a week and a half ago, and I’m loving it! I can identify any singing bird, and almost any picture of a bird! It identifies your description of a bird, too! You can also search for birds in your area, and play the calls. I’ve been able to play White Breasted Nuthatch, Cardinal, Robin, House Sparrow, House Finch, and Ruby-Throated Hummingbird sounds, and all with a reaction! The biggest reaction I got from a bird was a hummingbird, that was my first time playing the sounds. After a few times, she flew 2 feet away from my face! She looked really stunned, wondering what was going on. After a few seconds, she flew back to her perch in a tree and answered my call all the times after that. Just two problems. 1: When I was having fun with the app and trying to get a Mourning dove, no matter what I tried it wouldn’t give me it. 2: Sometimes there are sound bugs, which I completely understand. One time there was a sound in my house and it thought it was a Brown-Headed Cowbird. Anyway, I think I just heard a hummingbird’s mating call! Better go see them, Bye! Also, download this app for 100% guaranteed bird identification!.TessaStarzYTVersion: 2.1.2

It opens up a new world!Visiting a reserve this app lit up like a pinball machine when you've hit the jackpot! Showing my age? The only comment for improvement I have Is to be able to save the identifiable birds if you're unable to have an Internet connection. I am often out and about in the mountains without a cell connection and the only Internet connection I have is within 20 feet of the lodge where I'm staying. When I get out into the woods and my list is lighting up like a Christmas tree. I'm unable to do anything about saving, the identified species due to he absence of an Internet connection. Hopefully the designers are young and energetic, and they can figure out a way to remotely save the species. It would be fantastic if I was able to where to push the save button and retain the identifiable species so that I can log them later when I get back to the lodge. An option would be to have the choice to save them to the "same location" and that way you can just add them to the location where you registered hearing the last bird OR click "different location" and you are able to type in a location..BonsaimaidVersion: 3.1.1

Such funWe moved out to the country about 2 years ago. Here I enjoy the sights and sounds of a large variety of birds, both migratory and year round. Many I was familiar with by sight, though almost none by sound/song. Being as our property is heavily wooded, and I’m not quite as young as I used to be, there are a number of songs/sounds I hear, but may not see the bird producing it. Some of those birds are quite elusive, not all of them are worth traipsing off and finding, risking (getting) covered in ticks in the process. I have never used the visual ID feature, so it may not be fair for me to comment. Recently I updated the app with what seems is a further visual ID feature, including a search challenge. Again, I haven’t used it and though I can see it’s possible usefulness, I don’t suspect I will be using it often. On the other hand, I LOVE the voice recognition. There are often calls, coming from places I can’t easily see, that I would like to know who is making them. Sometimes, I want to know what a bird I can see sounds like, but am not necessarily able to separate it from the large number of birds singing at the time. This app will distinguish and identify the calls of several birds at one time. Sometimes, it has difficulty with a precise identity, but as often as I use it, I can usually determine which ID is correct or at least know which direction to head. With the picture provided with the sound IDs, it is usually easy to figure out which of the suspect IDs is more likely. I have a feeder right outside my bedroom window, and truly enjoy knowing who it is visiting each morning, as well the identities of the shier ones that sing from afar. This app has been a joy and often brings fun surprises. I am by no means a “birder” but I do enjoy “my” birds. I can’t speak for the more sophisticated watcher but I highly recommend this app..Kfalls4uVersion: 3.1

I really like this appI am a beginning bird watcher since moving to the country and it’s helped me to identify species that I just don’t see in the city, like the acorn woodpecker, the California scrub jay and even the turkey vulture. The only disadvantage is that one must be very specific about where the birds are seen. If you have a birdbath and you put in “swimming or bathing “ the search will yield mostly aquatic species and you probably won’t find what you are looking for. Best to put in “on a tree or fence “ unless you are at a lake or something, and you know that it’s an aquatic species. Just FYI. Use the companion app eBird to report and record your results. It’s got a link to Merlin so you can search as you’re out birding or just on a hike somewhere. Birds are so cute even though they can be dicks like raiding other birds nests and stuff (something I’ve seen and it’s quite upsetting). But it’s nature! It’s not really kind. I don’t see nearly as many starlings as I did in the city which is gratifying. In case y’all don’t know they’re an invasive species that should be removed with extreme prejudice wherever they are found in America. Anyway, thanks for putting the app out to the general public! Love it!.OwenGilVersion: 1.8.2

Still My Go-To!Merlin has always been the first ID app I open and the sound ID is absolutely indispensable. While I’m now able to bird by ear, I like the extra help with uncommon migrants that pop in for a few days each year. It’s also nice to have Merlin back up my IDs on lifers or when I submit rarities. With that said, it’s not infallible so some common sense needs to be used: if it’s telling you you’re hearing a bird that’s wildly out of range, it’s probably wrong. I don’t trust it unless it IDs the same species in two different recordings. But I absolutely recommend this app to birders off all skill levels. [Previous Review circa 2015] I've been using Merlin for almost a year and I love it. It has almost never failed to give me the correct ID. I have some of the expensive birding apps and Merlin outshines them. The search returns the birds that are most likely based on eBird data, so you don't get hypothetical birds that you'll never see. I really appreciate the fact that Merlin recognizes both male and female field marks because so many apps focus only on the male. I highly recommend this app to anyone who needs to ID birds--beginner or expert..KunsthureVersion: 2.1.7

A useful learning toolI have learned both that it can find birds that I did not originally hear and that it can make suggestions for birds that are obviously in error. What it has done for me is help me learn birdsongs. I have a very poor memory for music and so learning birdsongs has been very difficult. By immediately linking what I hear with the name of the bird it is helping me learn to recognize and remember more bird calls and songs. Using it in southwest Kansas this week I heard a bunting zeet. Merlin said it was a lazuli bunting. What I think was the same bird called again and Merlin said it was an indigo bunting. The bird called again and both lazuli and indigo lit up. I was never able to locate the bird so I do not know which it was or even if there were possibly two birds. Later in the same park I did see lazuli bunting and Merlin did not identify it but I didn’t hear it call or sing either. Wind and other background noises definitely hurt the effectiveness of this app. It does seem pretty accurate on warbler songs but seemed very confused by the northern Orioles. I was birding in the hybrid zone where Bullocks Baltimore or hybrid are all possible. These birds are very confusing so I do not blame it for being confused. One feature I wish they would add is an ignore this bird option. If I am birding in a place where a certain bird is always calling or singing if I could just tell it to ignore that bird for an hour or a day it would make the app more useful. This is not merlins fault but when I am looking for a specific bird and Merlin says it is hearing it and I cannot hear or see it that is a little frustrating. I don’t know whether Merlin is imagining things or I am just a poor birder. Kudos to everyone who has worked on this project..Not a nick no not neverVersion: 3.0.2

Awesome bird Id app!I totally love this app and the way it helps you identify all kinds of birds from your backyard or anywhere else! One thing is that it asked me to put in my email, which is fine, but five days later it said my grace period was over and that I had to send a confirmation email. It said that it had sent the email, but I hadn’t received any. This may be because I have a school district account, in which case it is not that apps fault, though a little more troubleshooting options would be nice. My mom and I are completely hooked and this is the perfect bird id app. Thanks Merlin! An update: Still very wonderful, super helpful no matter where you are, excellent bird ID app. One suggestion for people considering downloading Merlin: first off, you definitely should; second off, it might ask if it can send you notifications or something when you are logging in. Don’t. The amount of EMAILS I get from Cornell Labs of Ornithology is just annoying. I can’t figure out how to turn it off. Save yourself! (Still love Merlin so much, best app for beginner or advanced birders).A bird watcherVersion: 3.2

Sound ID is a powerful tool, unfortunately it sometimes crashesAs other reviewers have said, the sound ID function is quite amazing and justifies using this otherwise mediocre birding app. Merlin can easily identify a dozen different species all singing in a dawn chorus, occasionally identifying a bird that I didn’t even hear myself. For example, the other morning Merlin identified a brown thrasher, which surprised me because I had neither seen nor heard any, but by tapping the bird’s name on the playback screen, Merlin played back the part of the recording that had the thrasher singing, and I was able to confirm for myself that it was a correct identification by then playing the pre-recorded calls in Merlin’s library (I’ve never had Merlin mis-identify a bird call, but I still listen to double check when I’m not sure) My only complaint is that the app inexplicably and unpredictably locks up, apparently in some kind of infinite loop because my phone will overheat when this happens, and it’s difficult to get the task manager up to terminate Merlin. Restarting the app always fixes the problem, and it only happens occasionally, but nonetheless I’m docking 1 star until this is fixed..I110OVersion: 2.1.8

Great app, some issues thoughThis is a great app, it’s amazing how well sound ID works. However there’s a battery drain issue for hours whenever I do a sound ID. I imagine there’s some process still running in the background. If I forget to completely close the app after doing a sound ID, my battery drains and I can see it’s Merlin on the battery stats section of the settings app. Also I’ve never been able to get step by step ID working when I don’t have service, even if I select the location before I lose service. Fixing that big and adding better offline step by step ID would make this an easy 5 star app, and one of my favorites. One more thing that would be great is a way to explore birds by family, such as in Sibley’s bird books. Sometimes you know a bird is in a certain family but not all birds in a family or related group have a similar name, so you can’t search for one name to see all options. For example, the Tyrant Flycatchers and Becard section in Sibley Guide West where the families Tyrannidae and Tityridae are both displayed for easier comparison. Within this section there are Flycatchers, Pewees, Phoebes, kingbirds and more. In Merlin, I haven’t found a good way to compare all these similar birds in one place. Update: I have checked my battery usage for the past 10 days and of all apps, Merlin is the 3rd most battery draining with 12% of all battery consumption with 2h47m on-screen use and 7h40m background use. And this is with my manually closing the app after almost every sound id use. I never leave a sound id running in the background, meaning something else is running in the background and draining my battery. And I don’t use Merlin for more than 1 hour per day MAXIMUM so this is kinda crazy that it’s using this much of my battery..AlphgoatguruVersion: 3.1.1

ThomMy big concern is that the location using gps? I get around Maryland. My back yard over 25 years ago was enrolled in a Maryland wild acres program. I have 2/3 of an acre and an even wilder area that is a right of way for a utility easement. My wife and I gardened for wildlife and we more into encouraging birds and animals than a groomed lawn. All kinds of birds come here. We have a hawk always around and a couple of owls that seem to like our hundred d foot white pines! Anyhow, the GPS ID puzzle me as often it is way off. While trying to use the id description I was trying to report a common house finch and first the location was put up as somewhere in Kansas. When I reset it it picked Silver Lake in Florida. I am very puzzled about what I do to defeat the GPS. Eventually I got it straight but if I did not pay attention to location I would be all over the place!! By the way, I mostly have very common birds on our yard, but yesterday was awesome as we had a light snow. About 3 inches and the robins came back in large numbers. They were in a pin oak and would fly to our dawn redwood and then to our privet stand loaded with berries! They and the hordes of starlings were loving life. What an all day event..MD wild acre plotVersion: 3.0.5

Useful with a major flawThe app is overall quite useful for identifying birds and the audio references are great. What needs to change is your ability to add birds to your life list. There are times when I spot a bird, and I already know what bird it is, and I get excited to add it to my life list which is a great feature to have, but I *can’t*, which is super frustrating. You *have* to use the bird identifier to add a bird to your list, and there are times when I can’t for the life of me figure out what combination of answers I’m supposed to give the identifier to get it to suggest the bird I’ve already identified, so I just can’t add it. Then I search by name and there’s my bird, but no way to report my sighting. How crazy is that? Today it was a group of 6 cedar waxwings in the tree outside my window. I tried every combination of brown, gray, white, and even yellow and black with sizes of robin sized between a robin and a sparrow, and I never could get it to suggest waxwing, so it will not go on my list. This has happened multiple times now and at this point I’m going to give up on my life list because it defeats the purpose to not be able to track all my sightings..TreecitynighVersion: 2.0.3

One flawGreat app. Really cool. Very helpful in identifying birds, but they don’t give all the options when you do “Start Bird Id.” For example, I saw a chukar on a mountain that is sort of in the middle of a city. They’re not super common there but they’re definitely there and so when I went through the identification process that wasn’t an option to choose from in the end. The only way to identify the bird in that specific location was to pick a location that I know where they are in abundance and then once I find it and click “This is my bird” then I change the location to where I actually saw it. This works fine in this instance because I’m familiar with the bird and it’s usual habitat but the next rare bird I find may not be listed and if I’m not familiar with it then I’ll never know what it was. My recommendation is to allow all birds in the pack that fit the descriptions show up on the list. Or at least make it a possible setting. If there is already a setting that can do that then someone please let me know. I know you can change that setting on the “Explore Birds” tab so why not make it a possibility on the “Start Bird Id” tab?.Stockton's commentVersion: 2.1.2

Love this appMerlin may be my favorite app of all. While not fool proof, it has provided me a way to improve my weakest area in birding, song recognition, while helping me identify those birds I’m unfamiliar with; using this app has improved my knowledge of bird songs and the number that I can recognize on my own. It has been a great addition to my collection of birding apps. I would, however, like to see improvement in song identification for the Hawaiian islands. We go there every two or three years, and many of the songs remain new and unfamiliar. However, when I open Merlin, I am told that Merlin needs additional data for that geographic area. There seems to be a very low number of satisfactory results when I’m birding there. It is surprising that there are better results in Spain, Italy, and Cyprus. Keep up the good work. This is a valuable app for both identification and education. I hope that we will be able to continue to have new bird packs, and that new data will continue to be submitted so that the songs of new species from around the world can be added..MTBirder2Version: 3.1

It’s like real-life pokemonWe have a very prolific feeder on 8 acres that has sustained many generations of birds. When I tell you that this app is such a delight! We use both the step-by-step ID function as well as the sound identification, and they never miss the bird we’re trying to identify. It’s always so exciting to get a new bird added to your lifetime spotted list, akin to playing pokemon when I was a kid (and still as an adult if I’m being honest). The sound ID especially is a treat. My only suggestion for the developers would be to add 2 pieces of information in the lifer listings: the first of which specifies how you identified the bird – by photo ID, by sound, or by step-by-step ID – and the second of which has the symbol for how common the bird is in that area. Sometimes when looking through our list, I’ll find birds that I swear I’ve never seen in my life and I’m left to assume that I must’ve identified them by sound, which then leads me to wonder how rare it is to lay eyes on that particular bird. It’s not terribly consequential, but those are nice pieces of information to have :).A;sldjflsfjslfkjdVersion: 3.1.1

My favorite nature appI absolutely love this app. I have been using it since it was developed and it has revolutionized birding. The original method works extremely well. Now inexperienced birders can also use voice ID to help them identify quick moving, tiny treetop birds and birds hiding in dense brush, which are difficult to see clearly. Learning to ID birds by ear is tough. While it isn’t perfect, it is right most of the time. Once in a while, the voice ID comes up with a head scratcher, but, as an experienced birder, I can almost always figure out what it heard that led to a mistaken ID. Usually the culprit is a distant alarm call or vague chirping that is very difficult to identify without being familiar with the habitat and the likely sounds there. The photo ID is excellent if the photo is excellent, but can be fooled by poor photo quality. My only criticism is that you really have to make sure you have the location set correctly, especially if you travel to different areas for birding. The location should be more prominently displayed so you don’t forget to change it..Long-time birderVersion: 3.0.5

Outstanding app very easy to use, intuitive! Thank you Cornell!This is an outstanding app! I rank this app #1 for information, ease-of-use, intuitiveness, fun! When I see a new bird, I can quickly identify it by typing just it’s color before it flies away! I’ve identify birds, my there song. The app is so sensitive. I didn’t even realize how many other birds were in the area and it told me their names too. Then, I can play their song back to them because there are hundreds of pre-recorded songs available on the app. If I want to test my knowledge up, Orthology, I can listen to songs and try again if I the birds myself. Due to the rise of rocks and predatory birds in my area, the app helps me to log the birds are in my backyard. I was using Cornell’s website then they switched to this app. Since developing the app, they’re having constant improvement. Thank you Cornell. I’ve had many many surgeries due to two car accidents. Watching my birds brings me such joy. This app makes it even better. I donate monthly to Cornell to save the birds and contribute to their research..10moonsVersion: 2.1.5

Sound ID problem is fixed for iOS 18!I am pleased to have discovered that the failure of Merlin to record ANY sound via Sound ID, associated with v 3.4 and reported by me back in October, has finally been resolved in v 3.5. I have been an enthusiastic user of Merlin since July 2022, and have agreed with all the other 5 star ravings. But the sudden loss of recording capability going back to last August was puzzling, and frustrating because Merlin tech support did not seem to be paying attention to those of us issuing 1-star complaints. Appearing now in v 3.5 is a new alert: that Sound ID will not work unless Sound Recognition in iPhone Settings>Accessibility is disabled (turned off). To wit, it appears that the Merlin folks did not change anything in the software, but did come to recognize that the native Sound Recognition mechanism in iOS 18 was interfering with Merlin Sound ID. Disabling Sound Recognition in iPhone settings solved the problem immediately: the sonogram started to display a live recording, and bird sounds were accurately identified as they were recorded, some even quite a distance away in my back woods. All was back to normal! BUT A CAVEAT: What have I lost by disabling the native Sound Recognition? I had set it up to be sensitive to 2 environmental sounds: "smoke alarm" and "door bell". Other options included "glass breaking" and "water running". The phone had never issued alerts for these sounds, but also I never attempted to test the functionality. I have my Google Assistant set up to listen for such sounds, too, and that has definitely responded to such sounds before. So I am not too worried about missing this functionality on my phone. Nevertheless, I think Merlin support has an obligation to be more transparent about the trade-off for some users, ideally as an elaboration associated with the initial alert about the conflict with native sound settings..Shane49Version: 3.5

Always peaceful and calming to use this appMerlin bird id has not only helped me identify birds but has also helped me bring comfort and calmness to my mornings without me even intending to. I downloaded this out of sheer boredom and I now have such gratitude and admiration for all that worked to create this app and help others easily learn about birds. I feel more connected with nature now that I’m able to hear a bird and know exactly what it is. I know this review seems a little much but for a long time I had no interest in doing anything and this along with some other things was the start to my appreciation of the earth and nature which has seriously helped bring me out of a deep darkness and I sincerely thank the creators of this app. I hope that children will use this and be educated with the importance of birds and how they improve our ecosystem so that maybe they won’t be as destructive as we are now. I believe the ignorance of the role wildlife and how it benefits us contributes a lot to its destruction. Anyways have a good day and thank you for reading :).CharlatéVersion: 2.0.2

Amazing App - Great Hiking CompanionI don’t typically write reviews for apps but the Merlin Bird ID app has quickly become one of my favorite apps to use on a near-daily basis. I love to go on hikes deep in nature and have always loved the unique calls of the birds around me, and this app has solely taught me so much about the sounds of each bird species, locations, seasons, different looks of said bird species and so on. After just a month of use, I can identify plenty of the bird calls around me when I go on hikes or the ones that are in the tree outside of my bedroom in the morning. I even went golfing recently and was able to play an American Robin call to one up in the tree next to me, and even got a response call! I would never have thought I’d enjoy learning about birds this much, but this app has truly changed my outlook on the everyday nature surrounding me. I often describe it to friends as “Shazam for birds” so if that sounds at all like your thing, or even if you’re someone who enjoys the occasional hike, I really can’t recommend this app enough..Lgranny43Version: 3.8.4

I love this appI started using this app a week ago, and it has been so much fun. It also has been good for me. I tend to be a go-go-go kind of person, but because I am so enjoying this app, I find myself slowing down more and taking a few minutes hear and there to go outside and see what birds are singing. The House Finch is my new favorite bird. If there is a bird singing a beautiful, happy song in my area, it is usually the House Finch. My husband encouraged me to take a break at the school where I work and eat my lunch outside just so I could tell him what birds are over there. There was a loud truck, but even over it, this app was able to identify the song of an Orange-crowned Warbler, which I had never heard/noticed before. It made my day and got me to stop thinking about work for a little bit. This app has become educational for me, but it is also like a wellness app as well. It makes me go outside and be still for little moments. When I do this, suddenly I become aware of a symphony of bird song around me. I am so grateful for this app..A.M. BibleVersion: 3.0.5

Simply the best app everI have never found an app that is this useful in my life! My only complaint is that I now have a half dozen bird books that have been rendered superfluous. I especially like the sound ID feature, which obviously is not a possibility with books. Thus far I have found it to be accurate and strong enough to pick up even distant calls. Another great feature is the list of likely birds based on date and location. One question I have regarding the bird packs: Why is the Midwest pack nearly five times as data intensive as the pack for the entire US? I’m only now beginning to compile my life list, and this feature too looks to be very useful. I’m a baby boomer who was a late adopter of cell technology, and I must admit, this app convinces me of the potential value. I recently identified a song I’d been hearing for years, a black-capped chickadee. I was long familiar with most of its sounds, but I never knew that the mournful, two note descending song was also part of its repertoire! Terrific, thanks so much..Gianni ChiaveVersion: 2.1.1

Fails on me frequently, otherwise would be greatI’m shocked this app still has 5 stars overall. I’ve used Merlin Bird ID for years and it really simplified the identification process. When I first started using it there was only a limited database and it was still being expanded so I was very forgiving when I bumped into its limitations. At this point though, I just get annoyed and mad that I can’t ID the birds I’m spotting. The app doesn’t let you ID birds it doesn’t believe are in your area, and it also doesn’t let you manually ID birds by name in the event the search doesn’t bring up your bird. For example, in Southern California I had a Red Shouldered Hawk in my neighborhood for several weeks. I thought it was very strange because they’re not normally in the area and I double, triple and quadruple checked the bird with various apps and field references listening to his call and markings to make sure it wasn’t the standard Red-Tailed Hawk. I wanted to ID the bird in Merlin to help the database and other birders but the app wouldn’t let me. Once again, this time in Maine, I’m staring at an Indigo Bunting (rare) eating at a feeder. Even with the regional packs downloaded Merlin won’t let me ID the bird. Very disappointing..JackthezombieVersion: 1.6.1

Love it!!!🦅🕊🦉🐦This app is really cool, and I think it will be helpful! I haven’t really gotten a chance to try it out much but I live in Iowa and I am going on a camping trip near the Canadian border in Minnesota soon and can’t wait to try it out. I’ve been browsing through the stuff and testing the app out, like trying to get the app to think of European starling, And a while ago I think I saw a great egret but I wasn’t exactly sure, I tried to look on here but it wasn’t able to show me it might have been how I was trying to identify it and where I put the marker I don’t exactly know where saw it. Something I would like to see added to the app is skipping a category, like the location or the date because sometimes you don’t exactly know when you saw the bird, or where it was, just an option to skip would be nice. otherwise I absolutely love this app! I like how you can listen to the birds sounds, and just browse through bird categories! Another fun option to the app would be to interact with other burgers and share what you have seen!🦆! I will definitely be recommending it to my bird friends! thanks!!!😁.American kestrel ladyVersion: 1.4.1

First app I gave 5 stars!! 🌟🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄 This is probably the first app I’ve given five stars! I’m really really really into birds 🐦!!! Before my grade took an overnight field trip to an environmental center and went birding, I wanted to be an actress 💃🏻. But after the trip I wanted to study birds...now I want to be an ornithologist!!! We used this to identify birds that we saw eat from the bird feeders and it was very successful! Once you ID the bird you think you found, you can play the sounds of the birds, see maps of their migration routes, and look at pictures of them. My favorite birds are Mourning Doves and Tufted Titmice. I even went in my backyard with my phone in my pocket and found a House Sparrow! I identified a Northern Mockingbird on the road, and heard a Northern Cardinal singing outside! The only problem is the newest update. I liked when you could tap “Explore Birds” and it showed you a pic, the name of the bird, and on the right side of the screen was all the categories of birds—thrushes, vireos, shorebirds, etc. You could click on the bird and it would show you pictures, let you listen to calls, and learn a few facts. Now you can’t do that! That made me so mad, now it just says “no results” and a “refine” option. I’m sad and it makes no sense...Anyway, back to the good stuff! Turns out I memorized most of the calls from birds in my region, and can now ID a bird just by listening to it myself—house sparrows make a noise sounding like the word “weird”. Thanks to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for creating this amazing tool. I am now not just the queen of unicorns, but the queen of identifying birds!!! Congratulations—you have the honor of becoming the first app to be given 5 stars by The UniQueen—me!!! Thx!! -The UniQueen 🦄👸🏻 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄.The UniQueenVersion: 1.6

Great app!The app has definitely improved over the years. As with any app like this, it is important to confirm by listening to what was recorded and comparing to matches while also excluding other noises. My one wish for this app is that there would be an option to save or discard or something like that once you hit stop recording. If you amass a lot of recordings, it takes up a lot of space and you have to scroll to the bottom of the list to delete, since every recording is saved. Along the same theme - it would be awesome to identify some common non-bird species that sound like birds. It would also be great to be able to save specific clips in the app without having to export and edit. Being able to create one’s own library from identified bird clips would be awesome. Although I can appreciate that the app is more about identification, these features would improve the user experience. Great app! Looking forward to seeing how it develops in the future! Thank you!.Bird watcher1Version: 3.0

Amazing AI TechnologyVery cool to take a photo and identify a bird. Then I can also listen to the bird calls to confirm it’s the bird I saw. If you are an avid border or just occasionally run into a bird you aren’t familiar with, use this app!.RjemmettVersion: 1.7.3

Pokémon go for birdsI can literally catch birds using this app and then have them on a lifetime list?! AND THERES RARES?!?! This app has gotten me into birds and I love it.HaydeniscoooooollllVersion: 3.8.4

Just starting to explore the app.Great ID system. Just ID the great blue heron and listening to the sound provided I thought it was a poor choice. I am assuming that the bird recorded was in some kind of nesting area. 99% of the time when you see them and hear them is when they have been disturbed and take off in flight, squawking in annoyance. They sound like what I imagine a pterodactyl would sound like. Multiple recordings maybe? Listed from most common call to least..BAR0Version: 1.5.3

Great app! Needs a widget.Has changed how I listen to birds and taught me so much. A fantastic app. One feature that would be great is the addition of a widget so I could start recording from the lock screen instead of having to open the app..Kamil KisielVersion: 3.8.1

Bring Back AutosaveWorked great for ages, then suddenly it stopped autosaving, and now you have to remember to physically save each and every recording. The number of cool recordings I’ve lost because the autosave is no longer is seriously annoying, and even heartbreaking, as I can never get them back. Is there a way to make it autosave?.AlpeiaVersion: 3.8.4

Bird NerdMerlin Bird ID makes learning about birds so easy and fun! I often share your app with friends who are curious about birds and their behaviors. 🤓.Marianne CecileVersion: 3.4

Very engaging appNot only can you ID birds by description but there are many resources in this app. I love to turn it on while out for a walk and watch the birds pop onto the screen as I’m hearing them. Very cool tool..CathergwyneVersion: 3.1.1

Great, but not prefect.I use use app all the time. It’s a huge tool in my birding adventures. A word of caution, when using the sound Id take it with a grain of salt. Always follow it up with a visual confirmation. The sound id feature identified my son a a long eared owl 4 different times this season. So… yeah not perfect! But very handy when it is right..CanadianAshleyVersion: 3.0.3

Nice!It’s really good for young birders! If you add a sound identifier, that would be awesome!.JeLauraVersion: 1.7.4

Best app on my iPhone BUTLost a star due to excessive battery usage. The app is great, but it uses about 1% a minute while I’m running it. I need to force it shut and reopen it to use it again to conserve battery. I’m not exaggerating. It literally will go down 10% in 10 minutes. Can you please fix this? If I’m out on a nature walk, I can’t use it the entire time or I will drive my phone dead. Yes, I’ve rebooted. I’ve deleted my sound recordings. This seems to be a recent glitch..AndreTheGeekVersion: 3.0.1

Awesome app!Love this app so much. Love how it listens to bird calls and songs and then identifies which bird it is. So wonderful! Love using it while having a cup of coffee outside - put it on while listening to birds and then find out which birds you’re listening to!.PackawallopVersion: 2.1.5

Great app!One of the best apps to Id birds. It has helped me figure out so many new ones at my feeder. I am giving it one less star because it doesn’t save the birds you have seen. I want it to record a list of all of my birds.Agent6249Version: 1.7.3

Great AppI would give this app 5 stars if Australia was included. I hope they add it soon.PaytonGirl34Version: 1.5.3

Pratique, informatif et super satisfaisant!!!Quand j’ai découvert cette app, j’ai ai vraiment plaisir à découvrir la faune ailée des endroits visités. L’identification par le son est d’une grande aide, bien sûr il faut vérifier avec le visuel mais le visuel n’est pas toujours possible aussi, mais si vous avez une bonne mémoire auditive vous pourrez écouter les sons fournis par l’app elle-même. C’est vraiment chouette et fascinant!!!.MarieC BVersion: 3.9

Great AppWorks exactly as described. Very nice to sit out on my deck in the morning and be able to tell what kind of birds are in the area..GregSveinVersion: 3.9

Addictif et instructif - mieux que Pokémon Go :oPCette année j’ai pris la résolution d’aller travailler à pieds. Pour ajouter un plaisir supplémentaire à la marche, j’utilise Merlin pour recenser et découvrir les oiseaux de ma ville puisque je traverse plusieurs espaces verts. On apprend beaucoup de choses et on fait travailler sa mémoire auditive. Je commence à savoir reconnaître plusieurs espèces. Une application passionnante supportée par un beau projet universitaire. Bravo!.YslaireVersion: 3.9

Keeps Getting Better Everyday!What an amazing app! So many resources, From bird distribution maps for species across the world, sounds, sound recording, good reference images and even now summer and winter habitat photos for species! Only thing to be careful for is that it does occasionally make mistakes with sound ID, so make sure to review your recording if something sounds off. I’ve recommended this app to countless budding birders!.SamNaturalistVersion: 3.9

Couldn’t do what this app does with my poor eyesight! Love it.Love this! ID from songs and pics.PoppaDan25Version: 3.9

Great but buggyThis app is fantastic for identifying birds on the spot, but I have lost SO MANY lists because they didn’t save. Sometimes I hit save and it just spins…and maybe it’ll be saved in the end or maybe not. Other times it boots me to the save screen and but I want to continue my list, so I press record again. Sometimes that works but more often than not instead of continuing the list it wipes it and starts over without saving. Other times it just randomly stops recording without warning and doesn’t save the list or give the option to. It’s very frustrating when I want to review and log at the end of the day only to have nothing to compare my notes to..BatfishBettyVersion: 3.9

Fantastic and funLove the notations for the sounds and the map of where they go and how 🥰 such a cool app.Jel🌈🌸❤️🌀🔆Version: 3.9

So helpful as a new birderTrying to learn bird calls, and this provides great assistance in not only ID-ing but also in visualizing the sound on a spectrogram. Highly recommend for anyone trying to learn more about birds. I even know people who are quite experienced who still use it as a second set of ears..Socks0603Version: 3.8.4

New lookIm afraid to update again because says it’s going to add stuff besides the basics already there.🎱💭🌬Version: 3.9

Bird name in other languages?This is a great app for identifying birds. I like that it shows you in real time which bird is singing. However, I would like to see the bird name in other language languages, such as French for me. The app can be displayed in another language however, the bird name seem to be only in English. I would like to see it at least bilingual. Also I would like it to populate the bird list from our observation directly. And be able to sort by the most observed bird. Maybe also adding a map of where we observed birds..SpaceMDVersion: 3.8.4

Appli incroyable pour détecter les oiseauxJuste génial, très bien fait..Tibou de MontrealVersion: 3.8.4

Very useful app but some down sidesI use this on my walks quite often and I like recording what birds are supposedly here or not Speaking of which, useful app yeah but would be better if when ever you find a bird that it saves what bird you found with the song file attached so you can confirm it with your friends.3247756Version: 3.8.4

Fun and accurateI’ve often heard bird songs I’ve never been able to see before and have learned others were from a bird I didn’t know! Incredibly accurate. Highly recommend..Whateverisnttaken2021Version: 3.8.4

Please bring back auto saveI absolutely love this app but the most recent update is driving me nuts. I’ve lost multiple recording sessions due to the manual save being inefficient. And if your phones signal isn’t very strong, which mine often isn’t because of where I live, it takes very long to process the recording before being able to press the save button. On another note, it would be great to be able to group the life list into birds you’ve seen, and birds you’ve only heard..Lyd593Version: 3.8.4

Photo option is badUse of location is fine but why when I take a picture of a bird it suggests one that is not even on the same continent as the one I take a picture of let alone look similar? Suggestion should be relative to location. The listening identifier is good. Should add in the ability to type what bird you see.Quel qidVersion: 3.8.4

Manual savesLove the app and its large variety of recognized birds. Though some need updated identifying calls, it's more upsetting that forgetting to click a tiny button after each recording means the session in its entirety is lost. I understand that sessions take up lots of space, but they're so easily deleted that if someone was concerned enough about storage space, they could manually delete the ones they don't want to keep, instead of having it be so easy to lose a valued recording..FoysbacVersion: 3.8.4

Wow!Works well - love it it’s efficient and so fun to discover birds!!.Stef_huVersion: 3.8.4

Great AppGreat apps are hard to find these days. This one feels like something our smart devices were meant to do! Really accurate and fun.BubbleTrouble2988Version: 3.8.4

Cool appThank you very much for this cool app! Works very well and not commercialised. I would really appreciate ability to add friends and share experiences, life lists etc..RnipsaVersion: 3.8.4

ShhhhhTelling everyone to be quiet so i can listen for birds.Daphus420Version: 3.8.4

Love it! So Impressed.This app is simply amazing. I love collecting new birds like Pokémon, especially when visiting new places. After using the app for a while I’ve also started to learn to recognize a lot of bird calls and names without it! I’ve found it to be really reliable and love how simple and easy to use it is. It is a perfect low energy hobby that adds more whimsy to your day..PataytaVersion: 3.8.3

Listening, Learning, and LifestyleMerlin is an app that lets you tune into the world. If I hear a bird on my way to work, I might stop to appreciate it, or grab my phone to record a special song. On a trip to a new place, I listen and try to get birds vocalizing with the background sounds. Sometimes I even record my kid’s band concerts on it to send to their grandparents. I learn new things, and tune into the world around me with this app. I also have my college students use it for their soundscape projects in ecology. Thanks!.FractalfootVersion: 3.8.2

IncredibleWonderful app. So easy to ID birds and they’ve added a mic option which is really fast and accurate for bird song id. Incredible!.The Only Aras That MattersVersion: 3.8.1

BirbsSo many birbs…..ChillseawaspVersion: 3.8.1

Revolutionizes birding for meI’m an intermediate birder and have been stymied often by not getting a good enough look, especially at small bids hidden in the canopy or brush. Merlin gives me ears in addition to my eyes, and usually correctly identifies what I’m hearing. Not just a boon to identifying birds, but an enhancement to the full joy of birding..KrahnfiveVersion: 3.8.1

Nature inthusiastsGreat program for identifying bird species, if you enjoy bird watching..LabCrossVersion: 3.8.1

AmazingAn amazing app created by really talented people, almost always correctly identifies bird calls. works with eBird to record your data..NotthisonVersion: 3.8.1

Excellent app!Excellent app and amazing technology. I am very thankful for this app. It would very helpful if the bird size in inches and centimetres was indicated. Also helpful would be consistent photos of birds in flight from below for confirmation purposes..Don1234$Version: 3.8

GREAT BIRD ID APPSo idk what someone’s talking about a email but I got it to but I logged in and I never got it again. But anyway this app is a great app and I’m a bird nerd so it’s very good :D.Spitfire83747Version: 3.7.5

Noah’s got dippyNot good I used to love this app when I go to bird packs it just freezes I turn it off go to bird packs again freezes again plz update.Ship lipVersion: 3.7.5

The best bird appThe best bird app..Dylan LabossiereVersion: 3.7.5

Free International Money Transfer 💸Enjoy high maximum transfers into more than 20 currencies while saving up to 90% over local banks! The cheap, fast way to send money abroad. Free transfer up to 500 USD!AdvertorialVersion: 3.9

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab Negative Reviews

SoundID is busted nowI'm coming back to Merlin now that new birds are in my area for the spring. Compared to last year, the soundID feature is almost useless. I know that the mic is working because I can see the calls clearly in the little display, but it won't ID the bird. Even when they are common, obvious birds, like chickadees and house finches! From reading on Reddit it sounds like maybe the app was made to be more conservative to prevent people from misreporting unique birds. But honestly if this had been the version of the app I had originally downloaded, I never would have gotten into birding. I would never have learned the calls of the everyday birds around me. The old soundID made it fun to go outside and be reminded of just how lush and vast the ecosystem in my suburban neighborhood was. I could go for a walk in the woods and see 20 different birds pop up! I don't care if maybe some of them were wrong! It made me excited to be out in nature and pay attention to the world around me. But now I stand outside, hearing at least 10 different birds, and it barely even picks up a cardinal or a grackle. Could there be a solution for people who are planning to report to Ebird vs people who aren't? Have a "more sensitive" mode for those of us who don't care if Merlin mis-identifies, and a more conservative mode for those who are using it more seriously? Please fix this. SoundID used to be part of my mindfulness practice, and now it just feels like another frustrating and disappointing use of technology..IDONTWANTANICKNAME665Version: 3.5

Current upgrade: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it3.1 isn’t doing it for me. I’ve used it several times now and like it even less. Bird of the Day is an okay idea for beginners, but the image is huge and needs to be dismiss-able. It’s distracting. What I really need on the main page is a huge Record Button. Pre-recorded species calls and songs are now harder to access. I used to be be able to tap one of the top tabs and see a full list of sample songs and calls. Now, it’s tap-swipe, tap-swipe to see an incomplete list that requires more tapping. This is not an improvement. I used to be able to tap the Maps tab, then quickly swipe between species maps to compare ranges; now it’s just a pain. Finally, it’s still lacking the 4-letter alpha codes; so you have to laboriously type in the entire bird name to find your species of interest in the field (“yellow-throated…” is a lot to type on the fly, compared to “YT” as with eBird.) Type in “Bell’s” and you get zero results for Bell’s Vireo at the apostrophe. Sound ID is helpful but often wrong…I imagine that tech is a work in progress. But there is still no way to report that Merlin is making an incorrect ID (eg Merlin kept calling Osprey which was basically impossible at that waterless location, and the bird was actually a N Cardinal…but there is no way to provide specific corrective feedback.) Can I roll back to the previous excellent version??.ChezButtonsVersion: 3.1

Email confirmation issuesThis is a great app however, it’s has issues with email confirmation. I downloaded the app and when you make an account you are required to confirm you email and you are given a 5 day grace period to do so. The app reminded me to confirm my email address when I went to use and so I did, a few times actually, since the app reminded me a couple more times after I did it the first time. Looking back I should have known something was wrong when I was stopped by the app more than once to confirm my email but I didn’t think anything of it until I began to have issues. At the end of the grace period I opened the app and was met with a message saying “your 5 day grace period is over. You must confirm your email to continue. Please check your email.” So I did, and there was no email. I hit the send again button multiple times and have even tried re-entering my email address to see if that would solve my problem. I also deleted and reinstalled the app and I am still without a email from Merlin and without access to the app. I don’t know what can be done at this point. when I heard about this app I was very excited to use it but I probably will never be able to use Merlin since they are clearly having some issues which is not allowing me to use it..BipxdVersion: 3.0.5

Update looses dataThe most recent update really screwed things up. When you stop recording, if you don’t immediately wait for the transcript to be done and then hit save which you can’t do until it gets done moving it then you hit save and wait a long time but if you don’t do that right away, you lose your data cause if soon as you go to another app or the lock screen goes on you’ve lost it if you haven’t had it saved so we’re in the past it saved it automatically. I’m not the only one we were on a four hour bird walk the other day and even the leader didn’t realize that the update screwed you over and we lost four hours worth of bird data. You could always delete the recordings so I don’t see any point in changing it to having to purposely save it. Reduced to one star since I lost another 90 minutes of recording when the device switched to another app after stopping the recording but while it was doing something before the save button became active. And since the developers don’t seem to want to address the glaring defect of removing autosave, it wasn’t there when switched back to app. As numerous others have pointed out this is a serious defect causing lose of much data..CkayakVersion: 3.8.4

Nothing but issuesWorked well for a couple of months and now whenever I open it I get an email saying my five day grace period is over and I need to confirm via an email they’re sending me. Except it’s never received, no where, junk ir anywhere else. Added Cornell email to my contact list, no difference. Uninstalled and reinstalled, works for a couple of times, then we’re back to a five day grace period notification..Ssvrtlana1959Version: 2.1.2

Could not use app because I would not share my my locationI deleted the app cause I wasn’t able to use it because it insisted i give out my location. You do not need to know that!.Cant take a chanceVersion: 3.9

Begs for reviewsI have disabled in-app review pop-ups. Yet, in the middle of a birding session, this app will ask “would you like to rate the app?” If I choose yes, then nothing happens because as mentioned, I have disabled in-app reviews. please respect this system-wide setting. edit: happened again today, in the middle of adding birds to my list while out in the field..DickfaulderVersion: 3.9

BruhWas so good then just started freezing and being slow. Only one bird pack downloaded.DuhdhehdjdVersion: 3.8.4

EnregistrementVraiment déçue de ne plus pouvoir enregistrer les oiseaux!🙁 J'adorais cette application.... Est ce qu'il y a une limite du nombre d'oiseaux? Car ce n'est pas indiqué à nul part!.Saphir62Version: 3.8.4

App became unusableRevent update has the app slow to a halt. Everything is delayed when using it. Simply typing into the search bar cause the app to freeze entirely. This is likely due to it searching all birds globally now, instrad of just your filter packs. Change this back and you’ll get 5 stars..Jtoc drummerVersion: 3.7.4

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