The Magical Merlin App

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: July 2023 | Photograph By: Greg Clarkson

Last year, Dr. William McReynolds, our Highlands Plateau Audubon Society correspondent and all-around clever guy, previewed an astonishing new app in our December Issue.

“Merlin Bird ID comes to us from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and makes ‘bird listening’ as well as ‘bird watching’ easy and engaging,” William explained. “Merlin Bird ID is a multi-function smartphone app for the identification of birds. If you see a bird and answer just three questions about size, color, and location, Merlin will consider all the birds in your area and identify your bird, complete with similar birds in your area.”

“Merlin is fast and sure in telling you what bird you are hearing. It’s like magic, but what’s behind song identification is sonographic data on all species of birds in North America and beyond.”

William’s enthusiasm for this app dovetailed with an explosion of interest in the lives of our feathered neighbors.

“Birding is having a ‘moment’ right now,” says amateur ornithologist Melanie Vickers. “There’s been a surge in interest in birds since the pandemic. A lot of people were stuck at home, and they were looking out their window and seeing all the different species we have right here.”

Vickers will be leading an Audubon program at the North Campus Pavilion of the Highlands Biological Station at 4:00 P.M. on July 18. She’ll focus on the use of birding apps on your phone or digital equipment to help you identify birds. The program is free and open to everyone.

“We want to attract beginning birders to help them learn to identify birds through their songs and their appearance,” she explains. “The apps that are available now are easy to use, and we’ll show how they can send their observations to eBird, which collects data for Cornell University for use in conservation and research. We’ll showcase apps that’ll help people find spots where they can observe lots of birds, so they can go beyond their backyards. And we’ll show how people can create their own Life List – a lot of people want to create a record of all the species they’ve seen over the years.”

You can even use these apps to learn how to recognize birds and their songs on your own – you wouldn’t have to rely on your phone; you’d have the knowledge in your head.

Back to William:

“Bird Listening is a joy! Wherever you are — on a walk, at a park, on your screened porch — when you hear an unknown bird, turn on your phone and let Merlin have a listen. You very quickly come to know each bird solely by song. You’ll astound yourself with how expert you quickly become.”