Date: 8/14/25 11:59 am From: Russ Ruffing <russruffing...> Subject: Re: osprey or red tail
Except in my opinion, Merlin doesn’t really teach people anything. It
creates a crutch, and birders learn to not trust their ear, nor does it
encourage them to actually track down the vocalizer and “put eyes to their
ears,” which helps to hardwire the ID in one’s brain.
I routinely see birders with their phone strapped to their wrist and
running Merlin continuously (using an external charger they’ve hooked up to
the phone) and they spend their entire time out in the field looking at
their phone. This is not birding.
On Thu, Aug 14, 2025 at 2:29 PM SCOTT WEIDENSAUL <
<000001343b2dd726-dmarc-request...> wrote:
> 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
>
