Date: 4/16/26 10:14 am From: Van Remsen via groups.io <vnremsen...> Subject: [labird] MERLIN audio -- warning!
LABIRD: Most people in this venue have heard multiple times that MERLIN frequently makes mistakes and should never be relied on as the sole evidence for an eBird entry. Merlin's own directions emphasize this. Yet many eBirder seem unaware of this and treat Merlin hits as sufficient evidence for presence.
Yesterday provided a poignant example. A single Summer Tanager singing was identified as 3 separate species: Am. Robin, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Summer Tanager. Yes, the same individual bird. Yeah, the songs are kind of similar but not THAT similar.
As I have mentioned previously, I did 30 trials of 30 minutes at my place in St. Gabriel and NOT ONE was without 1 to 5 obvious or highly suspicious false positives. Since then, I've done dozens of unofficial trials with the same outcome. You would think just by chance I'd have a "clean" trial every so often. The most frequent local false positives are Red-eyed Vireo, House Sparrow, E. Towhee, Baltimore Oriole, Y-b Chat, Am. Robin, and Rock Pigeon. On the other hand, Merlin often misses Fish Crow, Y-b Cuckoo, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, and Screech Owl if they are more than couple hundred yards away, and misses Brown Thrasher "Chack" calls even at close range.
