Merlin Bird ID • Hacker News Board

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#101

Post by togume » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:00 PM UTC

It’s so great this app is getting attention. Hopefully the devs/PMs come here and pay attention.

The sound ID works very well, especially in the jungles/forests of Colombia with zero network availability.

The rest of the app needs a lot of love, though. Buttons don’t work often, screens are inconsistent, results get lost, and more issues.

Features: I’d love an iNaturalist bridge. Going back into a previous recording shows “No matches” when the original capture did. Many times we’re with groups in nature, and we ID something, but it’s gone by the time we show it to someone.

A quick starting point would be to add a quick feedback button vs opening a web form, so issues can be reported conveniently.

And a resounding thank you to everyone making this app possible!

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#102

Post by JR1427 » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:07 PM UTC

If you haven't tried birding, try it. You'll like it. It's like collecting Pokemon, but IRL.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#103

Post by 100_cacao » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:13 PM UTC

Using this one quite often :)

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#104

Post by tgtweak » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:34 PM UTC

I've been using this for years - amazing while traveling.

I wish they'd add some non-bird noises to it as a courtesy since there are often whips and calls that are non birds, like insects or mammals. I think it would add some depth and the overhead shouldn't be too high.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#105

Post by pfdietz » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:43 PM UTC

pgn674 wrote: post #6

gcr wrote: post #4

I'm friends with some of the researchers on the Sound ID portion of this app! The team's gone to great lengths to make sure the machine learning models and evals are solid. Under the hood, Sound ID is a great example of how "domain-expert-driven" careful research can give more reliable results than just feeding in data and hoping for the best.

I'm definitely impressed with the sound ID. One time there was a cacophony of birds singing outside my house at varying distances, and the app was able to identify 6 different bird species within 30 seconds. All 6 suggestions seemed reasonable to me.

We sometimes joke it's hallucinating when it detects something unexpected, but often it was being accurate. I saw my first ever male Blackburnian Warbler a couple weeks ago after Merlin picked it up.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#106

Post by bradly » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:43 PM UTC

sgarman wrote: post #23

I was thinking of trying to run this at home: https://github.com/tphakala/birdnet-go

Highly recommend it. The kids and I have really playing with the data. https://birdymusic.com/

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#107

Post by japhyr » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:43 PM UTC

To me, Merlin is the shining example of what "a computer in everyone's pocket" could have been. Such an amazing app that connects so many people more intimately with the world around them.

I get occasional nudges to support their organization, but it's a clear and direct appeal, there are no dark patterns that I'm aware of.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#108

Post by jfengel » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:45 PM UTC

This XKCD is ten years old:

https://xkcd.com/1425/

It didn't take the full ten years, though Merlin has gone from "pretty good" to "amazing" in the last few.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#109

Post by HelloMcFly » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:51 PM UTC

togume wrote: post #101

It’s so great this app is getting attention. Hopefully the devs/PMs come here and pay attention. The sound ID works very well, especially in the jungles/forests of Colombia with zero network availability. The rest of the app needs a lot of love, though. Buttons don’t work often, screens are inconsistent, results get lost, and more issues. Features: I’d love an iNaturalist bridge. Going back into a previous recording…

> Buttons don’t work often, screens are inconsistent, results get lost, and more issues.

What device are you using, out of curiosity? I use this app almost daily for months at a time across several generations of the Google Pixel, I haven't had any of these issues even one time. I'm not even sure what you mean by "we ID something, but it’s gone by the time we show it to someone". Like, it shows a match while you're recording, but the ID disappears after you've stopped the recording?

I've found the app starts hiccuping when I'm making a very long recording, but I've learned to just cut it off and start a new one after about 10 minutes.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#110

Post by pfdietz » Wed, Jun 04, 2025, 12:53 PM UTC

bryancoxwell wrote: post #78

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #14

I won Merlin once. I didn't know you could win the game, but I was relaxing in my backyard and suddenly it notified me that I had found the merlin. I was so excited. I hadn't known that a merlin was a kind of bird. I do wonder how accurate Merlin is. I certainly can't tell the bird calls apart, and I don't usually spot the bird in question, so it could just be lying to me half the time, and I'd probably never notice.…

Fellow amateur bird-liker here. Usually when you ID a bird it’ll provide you with a boatload of other recordings you can compare against if you’re unsure.

You can also use these recordings to annoy birds. Play their species' song and the bird will think there's a competitor nearby, and sometimes fly close to confront the interloper.

Needless to say, don't do this too much, but it can be useful for getting a visual on certain birds (like warblers).