Date: 4/20/26 6:24 pm From: Jane Patterson via groups.io <seejanebird...> Subject: Re: [labird] MERLIN audio -- warning!
I'm the admin for the Louisiana Birds facebook group. There are ~15,000
members in the group. I can "pin" the post to the top of the group to make
it more noticeable if one goes to the group and scrolls from there.
However, if there is activity in the group, the post will just be pushed
further and further down and basically disappear. And with everyone
posting their pretty spring bird photos, that's going to happen pretty
quickly. I see a lot of posts about birds this time of year on the
Louisiana Gardeners fb group and the Louisiana Plants group. These large
groups have 268k and 68k members respectively. Basically any post gets
immediately swallowed up by other member posts...so it's not going to be
seen by many of the folks who would need to see it.
I do make a point in my classes to tell people to take Merlin sound ID with
a grain of salt. It's a tool, not the end all, be all. And when we go on
bird walks, I *always* hear birds before Merlin does. Occasionally, Merlin
does hear something before I've registered it. Also, I've noticed that
Merlin AI is not yet smart enough to "subtract" birds it's got wrong when
it reported something in a, for example, a mockingbird or thrasher song.
Maybe it will someday, but not today.
--Jane Patterson
On Mon, Apr 20, 2026 at 4:58 PM John Romano via groups.io <birderjuan=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> My only input is that the bird “watchers” who use Merlin and who need the
> information in this thread the most, are most likely not on this listsrv,
> but rather on other media like the Facebook page Louisiana Birds. I often
> see photos of birds with remarks like “Merlin says . . . “ on that page if
> I go there. So question one:
> Do people also use Merlin to identify photos?
> Question Two: can the information on this thread be summarized and put
> on these other birding media to reach more people using Merlin vocal ID to
> make lists for EBird??
> > On Apr 19, 2026, at 9:20 AM, Bill Fontenot via groups.io
> <williamrodneyfontenot...> wrote:
> >
> > Guess my thoughts on this matter are somewhat irrelevant re: this issue
> as I’m no longer able to bird “by eye”. Regardless, my hearing is still
> quite good.
> >
> > In my opinion, nothing beats the old-school method of learning birds by
> ear: when you hear a bird that you can’t identify by ear — or even a bird
> that you think you already know by ear but the bird’s vocalizations sound a
> little “off” — simply track the bird down and get a visual ID. In that
> process, the repeated vocalizations as you search, combined with the final
> visual ID serve to reinforce the audio learning experience. Begin with
> local birds to build your brain’s audio baseline and build your database
> from there.
> >
> > Using this method you’ll learn far more than Merlin. You’ll learn entire
> ranges of sounds made by each species (e.g. Carolina Wren). You’ll learn
> the mimics’ trickery (e.g. N Mocker, E Starling, Blue Jay). And most
> importantly you’ll learn to discern the voices of birds that you don’t
> know, which often turn out to be rarities.
> >
> > Re: Merlin, soon enough it will become able to properly ID any bird it
> can hear. I’m guessing there are also visual ID apps in the works if not
> already available. A “birder” will simply need the skill to use a
> smartphone. Gone will be critical thinking and the excitement of the chase.
> >
> > Happy “Birding”!
> >
> > Bill Fontenot
> > Lafayette, LA
> >
> >> On Apr 19, 2026, at 8:33 AM, Jay V Huner via groups.io <jay.huner1=
> <louisiana.edu...> wrote:
> >>
> >> 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.
> >> ________________________________
> >> 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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