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Merlin Bird ID

merlin.allaboutbirds.org

131–140 of 221 posts

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#131
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.

Someone near my house has a rooster that does his thing every morning. And every morning I look at the app hoping to see him pop up in the ID list but alas, it never IDs him.

Please Let your friends know that roosters are birds too and deserve their recognition as the world's wake up call! Lol

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#132

In general as a bird watcher i’ve been extremely impressed by this tech. I generally trust it. There’s only a couple of times i’ve been sceptical of it’s id and thats where there’s similar species in the area. Eg. I’m not convinced there really is a purple finch where i live when all i see is house finches all day. But i could be wrong too! It’s proven itself enough that i’m not ready to call it wrong on that one.

It definitely has trouble with similar species sometimes — I've noticed it recently with crows and warblers. But it does a great job generally and direct observation of the bird usually clears up the confusion.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#133
I've been using Merlin (Pokemon GO for adults if you will) for a few months now. It's been pushing me to be outside more, explore, and be active in general. The social aspect is great too. I have friends who share when they come across a new one that we haven't seen in the area before. Kudos to the program.

Also so not sorry to throw off the algorithm at a local aviary identifying birds from tropical parts of the world.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#134
Its awesome to see the Cornell Lab of Ornithology continue its work in this way. I first heard of it through seeing mention of the "Haikubox" which is a self-contained BirdNet device. In looking it up I see that there is another commercial device and a DIY Raspberry based hardware. All are reviewed at the below link:

https://becausebirds.com/bird-auto-id-showdown-comparing-bio...

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#135
Be careful when playing the bird songs. A few days ago I clicked on the cardinal song that was in my identification list and the male cardinal nesting in my hedge went NUTS and I’ve not seen either of them since, and used to see them daily. They’re very territorial.

I’m afraid that I scared them away from an active nest by accident just playing around with the app. :(

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#136
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 r…

Going to second this opinion. I use this app almost daily as well on an iPhone 15 Pro. I have zero problems with responsiveness. I have seen a small lag when I start to get to 45m-1hr recordings, but even that isn't all too bad.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#137

Be careful when playing the bird songs. A few days ago I clicked on the cardinal song that was in my identification list and the male cardinal nesting in my hedge went NUTS and I’ve not seen either of them since, and used to see them daily. They’re very territorial. I’m afraid that I scared them away from an active nest by accident just playing around with the app. :(

"Calling back" is a term I heard after getting into birding. I don't think they warn the user in the app enough about "Please don't use this to call to birds, only listen for your own reference".

If I were a bird, and another mysterious bird sound came that was speaking a certain feeling or phrase I could understand, and I come to see it's a giant monkey man playing the sounds from himself, I would probably move my family, too.

Yes, Cardinals are pretty territorial and chase each other out. Esp during nesting.

Whether it's whistling close to their tones, "Pishing" to get their attention, or playing sounds from phones, all of it interrupts their normal behavior. Cars, trucks, lawnmowers, motorcycles all mess with them too.

https://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/04/the-proper-use-of-playb...

>When song is played in a bird’s territory, that bird’s response to the “intruder” is watched attentively by neighboring males and by females. In one study (Mennill et al 2002) high-ranking male Black-capped Chickadees exposed to aggressive playback lost status as their mates and neighbors apparently perceived them as losers, unable to drive away the phantom intruder.

It's clear we're capable of mimicking their language with our devices and playing it back to them has potential consequences to breaking up a family of birds.

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#138
I love this app! Just started using it a month or so ago to figure out who the loud ass bird in the woods behind my house was which ended up being a Tufted Titmouse (who are now one of my favorites, so awesome looking) and a Carolina Wren (not as pretty but makes up for it with its songs).

For the last month, my morning routine has completely changed and instead of sitting inside. I now spend my mornings out back refilling and cleaning feeders, putting out some peanuts to appease the squirrels, and then plopping down on the deck with some coffee/breakfast and MerlinID running on my phone.

I'm no good at learning a new human language but after a month of using this app regularly, I can consistently ID not just the different species, but also some individual birds by their distinct calls and voices.

The only thing I wish it had is a way to catalog individual birds and have recordings of their calls and pictures of them saved together.

Hats off to the devs of this app, hands down the best app I've used in a long time!

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#139
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.

Merlin is magic. Love the app

Re: Merlin Bird ID

#140
A wonderful app that's helped me learn about so many birds!

It is surprising that this app can mistake the human voice/whistles for some birds (try hooting like an owl or whistling like a sparrow/starling)!

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