Date: 2/12/26 3:38 pm From: <tgmiko...> via groups.io <tgmiko...> Subject: Re: [OrangeCountyBirding] [LACoBirds] The Merlin/Red-winged Blackbird mystery (solved?)
Wow! Thanks for sending this, David!
Tom Miko
Claremont 91711
909.241.3300
"We lose a rifle and get punished. They lose a war and get promoted."--Ben
Edwards
On Thu, Feb 12, 2026, 10:41 AM David Barton <dagnabbit1956...> wrote:
> There has been a study on touching on this subject by researchers at the
> University of North Texas. See
> https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11264047/#:~:text=Utilizing%20the%20Merlin%20Bird%20ID,31%25%20of%20false%20positive%20identifications.
>
> Their conclusion: "Utilizing the Merlin Bird ID application, we found an
> average accuracy rate of ~81.3%, with mockingbirds contributing ~31% of
> false positive identifications."
>
> David Barton
> Sherman Oaks, CA
>
> On Thursday, February 12, 2026 at 10:31:26 AM PST, <tgmiko...> via
> groups.io <tgmiko...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
> This morning, while walking Duke on our daily bird tour of Wheeler Park I
> heard some Red-winged Blackbirds. I did not see any. I also heard and saw
> Starlings. There were no Red-winged Blackbirds. A light bulb went on over
> my head. This weekend I was a cattle lot in the Antelope Valley, where
> there were many hundreds each of Starlings, Brewer's, and Red-winged
> Blackbirds. I suspect that Merlin "hears Red-winged Blackbirds everywhere"
> because it is hearing Starlings imitating Red-winged Blackbirds.
> Last Friday while looking for the Scott's Oriole in Orange County I stood
> there and watched a Northern Mockingbird imitate Cassin's Kingbird and
> White-breasted Nuthatch, and Merlin identified them as said species. I
> wonder if looking at the spectrograms would detect any difference between a
> Mockingbird and the species that it is imitating?
> Up until now I had always assumed that there would be something on the
> spectrogram that gives it away but now I suspect that not to be the case.
> Tom
>
> Tom Miko
> Claremont 91711
> 909.241.3300
> "We lose a rifle and get punished. They lose a war and get promoted."--Ben
> Edwards
>
>
>
>
