"When Natasha Walter first became curious about the birds around her, she recorded their songs on her phone and arduously tried to match each song with online recordings. After a friend recommended Merlin Bird ID, a free app, she tried it in her London garden and was delighted to discover the birds she assumed were female blackbirds this is how bad a birder I was were actually song thrushes and mistle thrushes."
"Merlin is having a moment. The app, developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York, which listens for birdsong and identifies the species singing, has been downloaded 33m times, in 240 countries and territories around the world. Britain has the second highest total number of users more than 1.5 million in 2024, an 88% increase from 2023. Every month, there has been a 30% increase in new users of the app, whose sound identification function was launched in 2021."
"Merlin has been trained to identify the songs of more than 1,300 species around the world, with more birds added twice a year. Different songs make distinct patterns on spectrograms and Merlin is trained to recognise these different shapes and attribute them to a species. For latecomers to birding, or those lacking a knowledgeable friend, the app has become their teacher."
Merlin Bird ID uses machine-learning to recognise birdsong patterns on spectrograms and identify species. The app was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and has 33 million downloads across 240 countries and territories. Britain recorded more than 1.5 million users in 2024, an 88% increase from 2023, with monthly new-user growth around 30% since the sound-identification launch in 2021. Merlin can identify songs from over 1,300 species, with additional species added twice yearly. The app helps beginners learn by confirming hunches and supporting birdwatchers who lack in-person mentors.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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