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the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 10:37 am
by Biloute
I'm not a smartphone-addicted teenager, but I discovered an amazing app: “Merlin ID,” developed by the Cornell Lab. And I wanted to share it with the bird lovers here.
https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
In just 10 minutes in my garden early this morning, Merlin identified 17 bird species by their songs—even with all the background noise!
The app shows you the list, and when you tap on a bird’s name, you’ll see its profile, a photo gallery, and audio recordings.
Available on the Play Store and easy to install, it’s a great way to pass the time while having your coffee!
Don’t ask me how it works… I made the mistake of asking ChatGPT, and I suddenly felt very, very old.
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 11:06 am
by Polarengineer
good post Biloute, I think most members already have this on their phones as it has been posted before. I do like this app as it has recognised and taught me many bird songs. I now can easily name the birds by call, until the one that is new and a delightful suprise.
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 11:08 am
by demi
I have had Merlin for sometime & agree that it is magical!
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 11:22 am
by Pathca
It is really good
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 11:54 am
by RobertArthur
Not our garden there in Normandy,
not my birds....
Little problem: YouTube is now sometimes enriching your video content, adding ads everywhere since the last 4, 5 weeks. Soon Google could also provide a new service I'm afraid: ads in every email message..." We hope you’ll find this useful, as we’ve noticed (I beg you pardon, are you following along?) that these topics are of interest to you. "
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 1:28 pm
by Blaze
Thanks Biloute. I have Birdnet and I knew there was something better, I just couldn't remember the name !!
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 2:32 pm
by widge
Biloute wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2026 10:37 am
I'm not a smartphone-addicted teenager, but I discovered an amazing app: “Merlin ID,” developed by the Cornell Lab. And I wanted to share it with the bird lovers here.
https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
In just 10 minutes in my garden early this morning, Merlin identified 17 bird species by their songs—even with all the background noise!
The app shows you the list, and when you tap on a bird’s name, you’ll see its profile, a photo gallery, and audio recordings.
Available on the Play Store and easy to install, it’s a great way to pass the time while having your coffee!
Don’t ask me how it works… I made the mistake of asking ChatGPT, and I suddenly felt very, very old.
We have been using it for some time and its been realy good, except for the last couple of months, as the cicadas are so loud they are drowning out the birdsong.
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 3:24 pm
by Biloute
widge wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2026 2:32 pm
Biloute wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2026 10:37 am
I'm not a smartphone-addicted teenager, but I discovered an amazing app: “Merlin ID,” developed by the Cornell Lab. And I wanted to share it with the bird lovers here.
https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
In just 10 minutes in my garden early this morning, Merlin identified 17 bird species by their songs—even with all the background noise!
The app shows you the list, and when you tap on a bird’s name, you’ll see its profile, a photo gallery, and audio recordings.
Available on the Play Store and easy to install, it’s a great way to pass the time while having your coffee!
Don’t ask me how it works… I made the mistake of asking ChatGPT, and I suddenly felt very, very old.
We have been using it for some time and its been realy good, except for the last couple of months, as the cicadas are so loud they are drowning out the birdsong.
I'm surprised to hear that! There's always quite a bit of noise around here from farmers and vehicles, yet Merlin picks up loads of birds that I can barely hear myself.
On the other hand, this morning the roosters in my village were crowing at the top of their lungs—like it was a competition—but Merlin didn't register them... No big deal, though; being a Gaul myself, I recognize them easily enough!
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 3:25 pm
by Hotrodder
No extra apps on our shared smartphone here. I can recognise a lonely pigeon early in the morning but that's about it. A phone would mostly hear passing tractors, cars with boom boom boom music (?), and mopeds with no exhaust silencers fitted. Those mostly sound like taking a long straight at the British Gp but going no faster than a sans permis.
the birds in your garden
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2026 4:54 pm
by Polly
Yes, I think Merlin is great - I enjoy finding out what birds are around locally. But I particularly like it when sitting quietly on holiday to fund out which birds are around. It’s especially interesting in Scotland when we visit the area around Gairloch and up at Plocton near Skye - both very quiet areas, and it was also useful on our recent trip to Northumbria.
It’s amazing how many bird songs it picks up that I can’t hear despite my very good hearing.
