Date: 4/19/26 6:41 am From: Jay V Huner via groups.io <jay.huner1...> Subject: Re: [labird] MERLIN audio -- warning!
If you cannot hear a bird’s vocalizations, Merlin is a miraculous aid. Clearly, if habitat is wrong and timing is wrong and you cannot find the bird, Merlin is mistaken or is recording a mimic.
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From: <labird...> <labird...> on behalf of Charles Williams via groups.io <chazbizz91...>
Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2026 10:12 PM
To: Paul Conover <zoiseaux...>
Cc: Harriett Pooler <harriett.pooler...>; <vnremsen...> <vnremsen...>; Labird <labird...>
Subject: Re: [labird] MERLIN audio -- warning!
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of UL Lafayette. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Well I'll take a slightly contrarian view and say I've enjoyed sorting out
the rights, wrongs and maybes of what Merlin reports. On a recent visit to
the Central sports park Merlin reported three species that would have been
firsts for the site: limpkin, mallard and eastern meadowlark. Limpkin and
meadowlark were both realistic albeit longshot possibilities given the
habitat. But neither could be found after a close check of that habitat.
So I concluded that known multilingual species, numerous in the area
(starlings, blue jays, mockingbirds etc) must have been the source of the
misidentified calls.
Charles W
On Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 10:13 PM Paul Conover via groups.io <zoiseaux=
<lusfiber.net...> wrote:
> Harriet, Labird,
>
> I guess the first thing I'd check is a physical cause such as a
> blocked microphone opening which might get lint or dust in it. In terms
> of the inner workings of the app, I've had similar issues where no
> species show up even when I hear singing close by, but it seems like
> after a short delay the list sometimes populates and seems fine after
> that. I just assume that's a glitch either in the program or the
> connection, or possibly just that my phone has too many apps open. I
> sometimes close all apps and reopen just Merlin. It tends to work, but
> it may just be by chance. Another possibility is that the location isn't
> set to the right geographical area, but it would take a bit of doing to
> accidentally alter that setting. Updating the sound packets for each
> region probably improves performance as well, but Merlin often reminds
> me to update right when I'm in the middle of using the app in the field
>
> However, that does bring up an interesting and (to me) annoying
> limitation with Merlin. If a species isn't expected where I'm birding,
> Merlin typically just ignores it. I understand that Merlin needs to
> narrow down the possibilities because many birds around the world make
> similar sounds, but ideally if a really rare bird is present, it would
> sure be nice if Merlin would tell me. When I think a rarity is present,
> I've had to turn off the phone's GPS and manually switch the location in
> the app to a location on Earth where that species is normally found or
> Merlin won't admit that the bird is present. Off course, that reset
> opens a Pandora's box where every vocal species present might get
> misidentified as an exotic cousin.
>
> Merlin is a work in progress, but eventually if enough good
> input is confirmed, it seems like the output will become reliable.
> Birders like you and Van that state the shortcomings and glitches in the
> program are probably doing the app a big favor by calling attention to
> its flaws, and certainly doing the birding community a favor by making
> everyone think twice about its results.
>
>
> Paul Conover
>
> Lafayette
>
>
>
>
> On 4/17/26 7:49 PM, Harriett Pooler wrote:
> > Van, Paul, and LaBird:
> >
> > I’ve had some false positives with Merlin too, and hearing in my right
> ear isn’t what it used to be; however, my main problem is that Merlin
> checks out at times and doesn’t pick up any birds or just some at other
> times. I’ve seen this often on bird walks with multiple people whose Merlin
> picks up birds while mine is on vacation. I’ve deleted the app and then
> reinstalled which seems to help for a while. It is almost like it knows
> there are other birders on Merlin in the same area and doesn’t put the
> effort on all iPhones. Any suggestions?
> >
> > Harriett Pooler
> > Baton Rouge
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >>
>
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