Oh Merlin…a blessing and a curse. I have seen far too many faces turned to an
electronic screen rather than binoculars to eyes this spring when I’ve been out
and about. I have read too many accounts of ‘odd’ and ‘rare’ birds in yards
with Merlin being sited. And I have participated in growing humber of
discussion on it’s affect and value to birding. Here’s what I think in summary….
eBird filters will catch ‘most’ rare and out of place reports and moderators
will requests confirmation for these report. However, ‘Merlin said' is not a
valid confirmation. A more troubling and growing problem is when ‘possible’
birds are being reported, using Merlin only without sight confirmation. Take
the huge uptick in reports of Philadelphia Vireos here in Tennessee. Yes, they
can be here and yes, a handful do get reported each year…but this year there is
a HUGE increase in reports most of them with direct links back to Merlin. This
type of reporting has the potential of turning the eBird database…which is used
by a good number of researchers…into nothing more than a database of
inaccuracies. While I fully realize that human error has always been a part
of eBird, Merlin is just amplifying the potential for false information because
a good number of its users are not aware of its limitations.
I’m not saying Merlin isn’t good or useful…what I am saying is Merlin is a tool
NOT the final authority. Using good sense when using it and understanding its
limitation are very important. And always confirm what it claims when using it
in the field especially when reporting lists to eBird.
Cheers!
Cyndi Routledge
Nashville Chapter of TOS President
CEO of Southeastern Avian Research
On May 9, 2023, at 9:36 AM, Sean Ward <sean.et.cetera@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm sure there will be some differing views as to how it should be used.
Personally, I use it to verify something I heard was what I thought it was,
or to determine why I am hearing it "wrong" (is there an echo, an odd
song/call, similar species) and work to improve my auditory ID-ing. It has
helped me differentiate some birds I would get confused by as well as learn
the songs and calls, as I don't need to play the calls in the field and just
let the app show what it heard. It is also helpful for those confusing fall
warblers; if I thought I saw something but Merlin says "yeah, but I heard
this..." and it's a similar looking species, that helps as well.
If Merlin reports something I haven't seen or heard it myself, I tend to
ignore it, as I didn't observe it... and sometimes the app is a little
overzealous in ID-ing a sound that it is then laughably wrong ("No, I see the
mourning dove, you are picking up Merlin, and it is not a great horned owl.")
That isn't to say I won't use it to help me remain in an area to locate birds
where it is adamant that a bird is present that I haven't noticed it yet,
so... there's that. It also helps me get my "spring ear" back faster as the
warblers and other migrants arrive en masse.
Basically it is just a tool to utilize and assist, but does not dictate, what
I include in my eBird lists.
The dots indicate frequency/rarity for a bird in a given location, but isn't
as tuned in as the eBird locations are. There haven been plenty of times
Merlin has indicated a bird was uncommon or rare, yet reporting it in the
eBird app for a location said it was common/expected.
Sean Ward
Louisville, KY
On Tue, May 9, 2023, 10:04 AM Rick S. <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi birders,
Yesterday I down loaded the Merlin app and used the sound ID. I was
amazed how well it seemed to work. Is this app accurate and does KOS use it
to ID birds? This morning I walked the perimeter of my yard. It took 10
minutes. I did it with the app running and according to the app I recording
the following birds. Wood Thrush, red eyed vireo, red bellied woodpecker
yellow-throated warbler, KY warbler, ovenbird, hairy woodpecker, northern
cardinal, eastern wood pewee, Am. Robin, indigo bunting, downy woodpecker,
scarlet warbler, tufted titmouse, white eyed vireo, Philadelphia vireo,
yellow breasted chat and eastern towhee. The Philadelphia vireo had a red
dot by its name. I had a hermit thrush yesterday evening that had a red dot
also. Not sure what the red dot means yet. Still learning.
I am very interested in your comments. This a learning session for me
with using this app.
Thanks, have a great birding day,
Rick Seelhorst
Siloam, KY
