Date: 8/14/25 11:29 am From: SCOTT WEIDENSAUL <000001343b2dd726-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: osprey or red tail
The lesson is that while Merlin is good, it’s not perfect, and sometimes seeing is believing. I find it struggled if there’s background noise, or unusually short vocalizations.
And sometimes birds don’t make the sounds they’re “supposed” to make. This spring, for example, my wife and I encountered a male dark-eyed junco singing his heart out on a ridgetop in the While Mountains — but instead of the typical long, melodic trill, it ended each time with a jumble of notes unlike any junco song I’ve ever heard. Merlin kept saying, “Hearing a Bird,” but never gave an ID, presumably because it didn’t match anything its machine learning had encountered. Merlin’s also known to struggle with distinguishing red-eyed and Philadelphia vireo, which is perhaps understandable, since those two species will respond to the other’s (almost identical) songs.
Still, the app is pretty amazing. For those of us of a certain age, who grew up when learning bird songs with technology meant listening to a 33 rpm record on a turntable, it’s simply astounding.
Scott Weidensaul
Milton NH (formerly Schuylkill Co.)
> On Aug 14, 2025, at 2:16 PM, <ceceliahard...> <000001ea2b4afe88-dmarc-request...> wrote:
>
> Merlin sound ID keeps suggesting it hears osprey when I only see red tailed hawk. Today I was walking by the Allegheny River and heard what I thought was a red tailed hawk and saw an adult perched on a sign on the Highland Park bridge. I saw another bird about 100 yards away and could see it vocalizing (I think).
>
> Merlin cycled between osprey and red tail ID and even added in Bald eagle at one point. I couldn't clearly see the calling bird clearly, but it seemed to be a juvenile red tail. I was not far downriver from the osprey nest that fledged a young bird this spring. I appreciate comments.
>
> Cecelia Hard
> Allegheny County
