Date: 4/16/26 3:29 pm From: Van Remsen via groups.io <vnremsen...> Subject: Re: [labird] MERLIN audio -- warning!
Before I get accused of "hating Merlin", I should follow-up by making it
clear that I think Merlin is great for learning bird songs and detecting
species one might not have noticed. It's an amazing tool. What I "hate"
is when Merlin output is uncritically considered the same as eBird input.
"Trust but Verify" as the saying goes.
Van Remsen
On Thu, Apr 16, 2026 at 12:14 PM Van Remsen via groups.io <vnremsen=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> 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.
>
> Van Remsen
>
>
>
>
>
>
