Merlin often IDs the single very high pitched single note call robins
sometimes give as cedar waxwing, fwiw. I’ve had it identify people talking
in the distance as GHOW.
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 11:48 Alvaro Jaramillo via groups.io <chucao=
<coastside.net...> wrote:
> Jan
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>
>
> Cedar Waxwings often just fly over, calling. At times these can be daily
> along the coast in Half Moon Bay, and common. Yet you seldom see them
> perching, just flying over. I wonder if the instrument was detecting these
> fly overs? As well, the flight calls are high pitched and many folks can’t
> hear them, but the machine might? Just throwing out thoughts.
>
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> Alvaro
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>
> Alvaro Jaramillo
>
> <alvaro...>
>
> www.alvarosadventures.com
>
>
>
> *From:* <peninsula-birding...> <peninsula-birding...> *On
> Behalf Of *cossypha via groups.io
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 25, 2026 1:42 PM
> *To:* <nlgoodman...>
> *Cc:* <peninsula-birding...>
> *Subject:* Re: [pen-bird] Merlin Audio recordings - Rufous and Allen's
> Hummingbirds - please read.
>
>
>
> Most of these audio id programs use machine learning algorithms for ID;
> they do not know the full range of any species' vocalizations let alone any
> population differences or mimicry. They learn by sorting a large number of
> samples into the most likely bins. I recently tested a device at my home,
> called BirdWeather, that does similar things; at first it was wildly
> inaccurate, giving me species that would trigger a lot of excitement if
> they were found in this area, but over the course of a week it improved,
> zeroing in on the common species in my yard. However it persistently told
> me there were Cedar Waxwings present, which do come through once in a while
> but were definitely not present that week. It never detected Bewick's Wren
> although they are always here; possibly because of the complexity and
> individual variation of their song? Don't know about Merlin per se but it
> would have the same issues although possibly a better performance.
>
>
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> Bottom line; you need to verify these audio ids, particularly in a new
> location or in the case of migrants moving through.
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>
> Jan Leonard
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>
> On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 9:35 AM Naomi Goodman via groups.io <nlgoodman=
> <hotmail.com...> wrote:
>
> I had the same experience at Burleigh-Murray earlier in March. I've
> attached a recording of a hummer that Merlin IDd as Rufous. It had a mostly
> rufous back with a small green patch. It doesn't surprise me that Merlin
> can't distinguish these two species calls. The sonograms of the
> "Dzeet-Chippety" calls in Peterson's Guide look very similar. If the calls
> are variable, it might be a tall order to improve the ID. What
> characteristics do you use to distinguish between the calls?
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>
