Bird ID APPs
Reports
I am being asked increasingly about the use of apps for bird identification. Auto-ID tools that use audio or image inputs to provide bird identification are growing in popularity and accuracy. The Merlin Bird ID app is particularly popular for bird identification by sound and can be extremely useful for learning bird songs and calls. (Identify Bird Songs and Calls with Sound ID – Merlin Bird ID – Free, instant bird identification help and guide for thousands of birds
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I use the Merlin Bird ID app. It is a useful tool but and it is a big but use with caution.
Here are some little anecdotes. Merlin cannot sort out mimics. A Curlew suggested in the garden was in fact a Starling using the Curlew call in its song. A lot of our summer bird visitors build phrases of other birds into their songs. That confuses Merlin. Birds have a variety of calls and songs. I was watching and listening to a Collared Dove. Merlin’s first suggestion for a sub-song of the Collared Dove was Cuckoo. The Collared Dove then got into the rhythm of its main call and this was correctly suggested as Collared Dove. In addition, there are some species it cannot distinguish. For example, Pied Wagtail are suggested as White Wagtail because calls are very similar and White is the dominant species in Europe. While Pied is widespread on Arran we do also get White on passage on Arran. Be aware that Merlin also uses American names. Great Northern Diver is suggested as Common Loon. However another user was getting American waders suggested in Machrie.....the wrong App had been loaded. The person was using the American App rather than the European one. Finally, a family member was using Merlin. A companion rifted. That was suggested as a Collared Dove. I trust these comments are helpful.
These Apps are fun. They do encourage people to take an interest in birds. They do help to build identification skills but they should not be solely relied on for identification. The App is only making suggestions. These need to be confirmed.
I like this advice from the British Trust for Ornithology
BTO statement on auto-ID tools
The outputs of auto-ID tools are currently not accurate enough to ensure that our data are robust and high-quality. We also don't yet understand how wider use of auto-ID tools might affect the results of our long-term schemes.
We therefore ask that volunteers taking part in any of our monitoring schemes and in BirdTrack do not rely solely on these apps in the field, and only add records to their survey data if they are confirmed by sight or hearing.
Use of such tools should only be used for confirmatory purposes. We do recognise that, with sufficient improvements in accuracy and guidelines on use, the tools do have the potential to increase the quality and quantity of data collected. They may also open survey participation to a wider audience and engage more people with our work. High-quality data and inclusion are very important to us, so we will continue to monitor the development of the tools and update our statement accordingly.
For the source of this statement: Click here Survey essentials, BTO - British Trust for Ornithology.
