Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab
Identify Birds You See & Hear
Free
3.0.5for iPhone
9.7
16K+ Ratings
Cornell University
Developer
110.9 MB
Size
Feb 1, 2024
Update Date
#4
in Reference
4+
Age Rating
Age Rating
Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab Screenshots
About Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab
What's that bird? Ask Merlin—the world’s leading app for birds. Just like magic, Merlin Bird ID will help you solve the mystery.
Merlin Bird ID helps you identify birds you see and hear. Merlin is unlike any other bird app—it's powered by eBird, the world’s largest database of bird sightings, sounds, and photos.
Merlin offers four fun ways to identify birds. Answer a few simple questions, upload a photo, record a singing bird, or explore birds in a region.
Whether you’re curious about a bird you’ve seen once or you’re hoping to identify every bird you can find, the answers are waiting for you with this free app from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE MERLIN
• Expert ID tips, range maps, photos, and sounds help you learn about the birds you spot and build birding skills.
• Customized lists of birds to find where you live or travel
• Merlin was created by bird experts for everyone.
• Merlin is global—look up any bird at any location.
• Keep track of your sightings—linked to eBird, a global database of more than 1 billion bird observations!
MACHINE LEARNING MAGIC
• Powered by Visipedia, Merlin Sound ID and Photo ID uses deep learning to identify birds in photos and sounds. Merlin learns to recognize bird species based on training sets of millions of photos and sounds collected by birders at eBird.org, archived in the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Merlin delivers the most accurate results thanks to experienced birders, who curate and annotate sightings, photos, and sounds, who are the true magic behind Merlin.
AMAZING CONTENT
• Choose bird packs that contain photos, songs, and calls, and identification help for anywhere in the world, including Mexico, Costa Rica, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia, Korea, Japan, China, and more.
• It’s available in your language. Merlin is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Hebrew, German, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Marathi, Malayalam, Afrikaans, Arabic, Indonesian, Russian, Danish, Thai, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s goal is to help you and millions of others to learn about birds. Our nonprofit mission to improve the understanding and protection of birds and nature is made possible by the generosity of Cornell Lab members, supporters, and citizen-science contributors.
Merlin Bird ID helps you identify birds you see and hear. Merlin is unlike any other bird app—it's powered by eBird, the world’s largest database of bird sightings, sounds, and photos.
Merlin offers four fun ways to identify birds. Answer a few simple questions, upload a photo, record a singing bird, or explore birds in a region.
Whether you’re curious about a bird you’ve seen once or you’re hoping to identify every bird you can find, the answers are waiting for you with this free app from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE MERLIN
• Expert ID tips, range maps, photos, and sounds help you learn about the birds you spot and build birding skills.
• Customized lists of birds to find where you live or travel
• Merlin was created by bird experts for everyone.
• Merlin is global—look up any bird at any location.
• Keep track of your sightings—linked to eBird, a global database of more than 1 billion bird observations!
MACHINE LEARNING MAGIC
• Powered by Visipedia, Merlin Sound ID and Photo ID uses deep learning to identify birds in photos and sounds. Merlin learns to recognize bird species based on training sets of millions of photos and sounds collected by birders at eBird.org, archived in the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Merlin delivers the most accurate results thanks to experienced birders, who curate and annotate sightings, photos, and sounds, who are the true magic behind Merlin.
AMAZING CONTENT
• Choose bird packs that contain photos, songs, and calls, and identification help for anywhere in the world, including Mexico, Costa Rica, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia, Korea, Japan, China, and more.
• It’s available in your language. Merlin is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Hebrew, German, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Marathi, Malayalam, Afrikaans, Arabic, Indonesian, Russian, Danish, Thai, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s goal is to help you and millions of others to learn about birds. Our nonprofit mission to improve the understanding and protection of birds and nature is made possible by the generosity of Cornell Lab members, supporters, and citizen-science contributors.
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What's New in the Latest Version 3.0.5
Last updated on Feb 1, 2024
Old Versions
Two minor bug fixes:
- Bluetooth access will now only be requested when enabling Swarovski devices
- Bird names are now available in Simplified Chinese again
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds. Your feedback and support drive our ongoing efforts to create a better birding experience for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates, improvements, and exciting features!
- Bluetooth access will now only be requested when enabling Swarovski devices
- Bird names are now available in Simplified Chinese again
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds. Your feedback and support drive our ongoing efforts to create a better birding experience for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates, improvements, and exciting features!
Show More
Version History
3.0.5
Feb 1, 2024
Two minor bug fixes:
- Bluetooth access will now only be requested when enabling Swarovski devices
- Bird names are now available in Simplified Chinese again
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds. Your feedback and support drive our ongoing efforts to create a better birding experience for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates, improvements, and exciting features!
- Bluetooth access will now only be requested when enabling Swarovski devices
- Bird names are now available in Simplified Chinese again
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds. Your feedback and support drive our ongoing efforts to create a better birding experience for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates, improvements, and exciting features!
3.0.4
Jan 7, 2024
Updated support for connected devices.
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds. Your feedback and support drive our ongoing efforts to create a better birding experience for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates, improvements, and exciting features!
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds. Your feedback and support drive our ongoing efforts to create a better birding experience for everyone. Stay tuned for more updates, improvements, and exciting features!
3.0.3
Nov 27, 2023
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds.
3.0.2
Oct 23, 2023
Updated Sound ID Model (v34): Merlin can now identify over 1200 species by sound! We added over 150 new species to sound ID in this update, including fan-favorites like Wilson’s Plover, Flame-colored Tanager, and New Zealand Fantail.
New translation: Merlin is now available in Thai!
New translation: Merlin is now available in Thai!
3.0.1
Aug 30, 2023
New in this release: language updates and bug fixes for Merlin’s new layout
Danish translations: buttons and label text within Merlin are now available in Danish!
Layout fixes for Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages: fixed the layouts on the Sound ID and Life List pages for languages with right-to-left script.
Swarovski dG: restored ability to download your images directly from your Swarovski dG into Photo ID
Danish translations: buttons and label text within Merlin are now available in Danish!
Layout fixes for Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages: fixed the layouts on the Sound ID and Life List pages for languages with right-to-left script.
Swarovski dG: restored ability to download your images directly from your Swarovski dG into Photo ID
3.0
Jul 5, 2023
We're giving Merlin a makeover! We hope you find the new navigation system sleeker and more intuitive to use.
In addition to being able to more quickly navigate around the app, Sound ID can now run in the background while you use other parts of Merlin, like Explore and Life List.
In addition to being able to more quickly navigate around the app, Sound ID can now run in the background while you use other parts of Merlin, like Explore and Life List.
2.1.8
Apr 24, 2023
We’re excited to announce our latest update, with new features to make exploring your saved Sound ID recordings even more fun!
• Tap to cycle through multiple Sound ID results for a bird
Now, when you tap on a bird in your Sound ID recordings, you can cycle through multiple results for that bird. This is a great way to compare different results and find the one that you’re most confident in.
• Sound ID results are highlighted in Playback mode
We’ve also made it easier to explore your Sound ID recordings by highlighting the singing birds, same as the live recording. This makes it easy to see which birds are singing and to identify and learn the songs and calls.
• Sound ID recordings are backed up to iCloud
Finally, we’ve added iCloud backup support for Sound ID recordings. This means that your recordings will be automatically backed up to iCloud, so you can restore them if you ever update to a new device.
We hope you enjoy these new features! If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks for using Sound ID!
• Tap to cycle through multiple Sound ID results for a bird
Now, when you tap on a bird in your Sound ID recordings, you can cycle through multiple results for that bird. This is a great way to compare different results and find the one that you’re most confident in.
• Sound ID results are highlighted in Playback mode
We’ve also made it easier to explore your Sound ID recordings by highlighting the singing birds, same as the live recording. This makes it easy to see which birds are singing and to identify and learn the songs and calls.
• Sound ID recordings are backed up to iCloud
Finally, we’ve added iCloud backup support for Sound ID recordings. This means that your recordings will be automatically backed up to iCloud, so you can restore them if you ever update to a new device.
We hope you enjoy these new features! If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks for using Sound ID!
2.1.7
Apr 13, 2023
We’re excited to announce our latest update, with new features to make exploring your saved Sound ID recordings even more fun!
• Tap to cycle through multiple Sound ID results for a bird
Now, when you tap on a bird in your Sound ID recordings, you can cycle through multiple results for that bird. This is a great way to compare different results and find the one that you’re most confident in.
• Sound ID results are highlighted in Playback mode
We’ve also made it easier to explore your Sound ID recordings by highlighting the singing birds, same as the live recording. This makes it easy to see which birds are singing and to identify and learn the songs and calls.
• Sound ID recordings are backed up to iCloud
Finally, we’ve added iCloud backup support for Sound ID recordings. This means that your recordings will be automatically backed up to iCloud, so you can restore them if you ever update to a new device.
We hope you enjoy these new features! If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks for using Sound ID!
• Tap to cycle through multiple Sound ID results for a bird
Now, when you tap on a bird in your Sound ID recordings, you can cycle through multiple results for that bird. This is a great way to compare different results and find the one that you’re most confident in.
• Sound ID results are highlighted in Playback mode
We’ve also made it easier to explore your Sound ID recordings by highlighting the singing birds, same as the live recording. This makes it easy to see which birds are singing and to identify and learn the songs and calls.
• Sound ID recordings are backed up to iCloud
Finally, we’ve added iCloud backup support for Sound ID recordings. This means that your recordings will be automatically backed up to iCloud, so you can restore them if you ever update to a new device.
We hope you enjoy these new features! If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks for using Sound ID!
2.1.6
Apr 10, 2023
We’re excited to announce our latest update, with new features to make exploring your saved Sound ID recordings even more fun!
• Tap to cycle through multiple Sound ID results for a bird
Now, when you tap on a bird in your Sound ID recordings, you can cycle through multiple results for that bird. This is a great way to compare different results and find the one that you’re most confident in.
• Sound ID results are highlighted in Playback mode
We’ve also made it easier to explore your Sound ID recordings by highlighting the singing birds, same as the live recording. This makes it easy to see which birds are singing and to identify and learn the songs and calls.
• Sound ID recordings are backed up to iCloud
Finally, we’ve added iCloud backup support for Sound ID recordings. This means that your recordings will be automatically backed up to iCloud, so you can restore them if you ever update to a new device.
We hope you enjoy these new features! If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks for using Sound ID!
• Tap to cycle through multiple Sound ID results for a bird
Now, when you tap on a bird in your Sound ID recordings, you can cycle through multiple results for that bird. This is a great way to compare different results and find the one that you’re most confident in.
• Sound ID results are highlighted in Playback mode
We’ve also made it easier to explore your Sound ID recordings by highlighting the singing birds, same as the live recording. This makes it easy to see which birds are singing and to identify and learn the songs and calls.
• Sound ID recordings are backed up to iCloud
Finally, we’ve added iCloud backup support for Sound ID recordings. This means that your recordings will be automatically backed up to iCloud, so you can restore them if you ever update to a new device.
We hope you enjoy these new features! If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks for using Sound ID!
2.1.5
Dec 6, 2022
New in this release
• eBird/Clements Taxonomy 2022 - Updated species names to align with eBird
• Updated app translations
• Support for both Portuguese (Portugal) and Portuguese (Brazil)
• Support for ID text in Marathi and Malayalam
Also included 2.1.4
Updates to My Sound Recordings screen to quickly explore and manage your recordings
• Quickly view the top species
• Search by species, location, and filename
• Sort by date, recording length, and file name
• Select multiple recordings to share or delete
New common name options
• Spanish (Honduras)
• Portuguese (Angola)
Other updates include:
• Support audio imports from iCloud
• Show recording length for Sound ID session longer than 1 hour
• eBird/Clements Taxonomy 2022 - Updated species names to align with eBird
• Updated app translations
• Support for both Portuguese (Portugal) and Portuguese (Brazil)
• Support for ID text in Marathi and Malayalam
Also included 2.1.4
Updates to My Sound Recordings screen to quickly explore and manage your recordings
• Quickly view the top species
• Search by species, location, and filename
• Sort by date, recording length, and file name
• Select multiple recordings to share or delete
New common name options
• Spanish (Honduras)
• Portuguese (Angola)
Other updates include:
• Support audio imports from iCloud
• Show recording length for Sound ID session longer than 1 hour
2.1.4
Nov 9, 2022
This latest version brings Sound ID improvements for US, Canada, and European species, as well as around 200 additional birds, covering some of the most common and widespread birds of Central and South America.
Updates to My Sound Recordings screen to quickly explore and manage your recordings
• Quickly view the top species
• Search by species, location, and filename
• Sort by date, recording length, and file name
• Select multiple recordings to share or delete
New common name options
• Spanish (Honduras)
• Portuguese (Angola)
Other updates include:
• Support audio imports from iCloud
• Show recording length for Sound ID session longer than 1 hour
Updates to My Sound Recordings screen to quickly explore and manage your recordings
• Quickly view the top species
• Search by species, location, and filename
• Sort by date, recording length, and file name
• Select multiple recordings to share or delete
New common name options
• Spanish (Honduras)
• Portuguese (Angola)
Other updates include:
• Support audio imports from iCloud
• Show recording length for Sound ID session longer than 1 hour
2.1.2
Jun 7, 2022
• Layout tweaks for smaller screens to show more results
• The latest and greatest Sound ID model!
• Video support for Sound ID - you can now open/Import videos and Sound ID will import just the audio and identify the singing birds
• The latest and greatest Sound ID model!
• Video support for Sound ID - you can now open/Import videos and Sound ID will import just the audio and identify the singing birds
2.1.1
May 8, 2022
• Layout tweaks for smaller screens to show more results
• The latest and greatest Sound ID model!
• Video support for Sound ID - you can now open/Import videos and Sound ID will import just the audio and identify the singing birds
• The latest and greatest Sound ID model!
• Video support for Sound ID - you can now open/Import videos and Sound ID will import just the audio and identify the singing birds
2.1
Apr 17, 2022
Now with Sound ID for birds in the United States, Canada, and Europe! Record the birds you hear, and watch real-time results show up on the screen to help guide you to the correct identification.
2.0.3
Jan 2, 2022
This release brings bug fixes that improve Merlin to help you discover and identify birds around you.
2.0.2
Sep 18, 2021
Now with Sound ID! Record the birds you hear, and watch real-time results show up on the screen to help guide you to the correct identification.
2.0.1
Jul 24, 2021
Sound ID for 450+ species in the US and Canada!
Have you ever been mystified when hearing a bird you can’t see? Merlin helps you identify birds even when you can’t see them. Record the birds you hear, and watch real-time results show up on the screen to help guide you to the correct identification.
2.0.1 notes
Tweaks and fixes to make your birdwatching more enjoyable! Thanks for all the feedback and reports.
Have you ever been mystified when hearing a bird you can’t see? Merlin helps you identify birds even when you can’t see them. Record the birds you hear, and watch real-time results show up on the screen to help guide you to the correct identification.
2.0.1 notes
Tweaks and fixes to make your birdwatching more enjoyable! Thanks for all the feedback and reports.
2.0
Jun 23, 2021
Sound ID for 400+ species in the US and Canada!
Have you ever been mystified when hearing a bird you can’t see? Merlin helps you identify birds even when you can’t see them. Record the birds you hear, and watch real-time results show up on the screen to help guide you to the correct identification.
The ability to identify bird songs and calls is powered by thousands of audio recordings in Macaulay Library, and over a billion bird sightings submitted to eBird.
Have you ever been mystified when hearing a bird you can’t see? Merlin helps you identify birds even when you can’t see them. Record the birds you hear, and watch real-time results show up on the screen to help guide you to the correct identification.
The ability to identify bird songs and calls is powered by thousands of audio recordings in Macaulay Library, and over a billion bird sightings submitted to eBird.
1.8.4
May 11, 2021
We periodically release fixes and tweaks to improve Merlin Bird ID and help you identify more birds.
1.8.2
Aug 31, 2020
Save My Bird
Now when you use the Bird ID or Photo ID features to identify a bird, you can tell Merlin that "This is my bird!" and save that sighting to your free Cornell Lab account. As you record when and where you see birds, you'll be able to watch your life list grow!
Think of a life list as a scrapbook of memories. It’s a record of the sweet sights and sounds you took in over all the days you went birdwatching. That’s why we’re excited to give you the tools to start your life list in Merlin. Use Save My Bird to create a list of all the birds you’ve confidently identified in person. You can even save the same species multiple times, if you want to keep track of all the places you’ve crossed paths with it.
1.8.2
New common name options
Arabic
Asturian
Azerbaijani
Catalan
Spanish, Peru
Spanish, Paraguay
Euskera
French, French Guiana
Galician
Slovak
1.8.1
Fixes to streamline logging in again if you've changed your password
Updates to translations
Now when you use the Bird ID or Photo ID features to identify a bird, you can tell Merlin that "This is my bird!" and save that sighting to your free Cornell Lab account. As you record when and where you see birds, you'll be able to watch your life list grow!
Think of a life list as a scrapbook of memories. It’s a record of the sweet sights and sounds you took in over all the days you went birdwatching. That’s why we’re excited to give you the tools to start your life list in Merlin. Use Save My Bird to create a list of all the birds you’ve confidently identified in person. You can even save the same species multiple times, if you want to keep track of all the places you’ve crossed paths with it.
1.8.2
New common name options
Arabic
Asturian
Azerbaijani
Catalan
Spanish, Peru
Spanish, Paraguay
Euskera
French, French Guiana
Galician
Slovak
1.8.1
Fixes to streamline logging in again if you've changed your password
Updates to translations
1.8.1
Aug 22, 2020
Save My Bird
Now when you use the Bird ID or Photo ID features to identify a bird, you can tell Merlin that "This is my bird!" and save that sighting to your free Cornell Lab account. As you record when and where you see birds, you'll be able to watch your life list grow!
Think of a life list as a scrapbook of memories. It’s a record of the sweet sights and sounds you took in over all the days you went birdwatching. That’s why we’re excited to give you the tools to start your life list in Merlin. Use Save My Bird to create a list of all the birds you’ve confidently identified in person. You can even save the same species multiple times, if you want to keep track of all the places you’ve crossed paths with it.
1.8.1
Fixes to streamline logging in again if you've changed your password
Updates to translations
Now when you use the Bird ID or Photo ID features to identify a bird, you can tell Merlin that "This is my bird!" and save that sighting to your free Cornell Lab account. As you record when and where you see birds, you'll be able to watch your life list grow!
Think of a life list as a scrapbook of memories. It’s a record of the sweet sights and sounds you took in over all the days you went birdwatching. That’s why we’re excited to give you the tools to start your life list in Merlin. Use Save My Bird to create a list of all the birds you’ve confidently identified in person. You can even save the same species multiple times, if you want to keep track of all the places you’ve crossed paths with it.
1.8.1
Fixes to streamline logging in again if you've changed your password
Updates to translations
1.8
Aug 10, 2020
Save My Bird
Now when you use the Bird ID or Photo ID features to identify a bird, you can tell Merlin that "This is my bird!" and save that sighting to your free Cornell Lab account. As you record when and where you see birds, you'll be able to watch your life list grow!
Now when you use the Bird ID or Photo ID features to identify a bird, you can tell Merlin that "This is my bird!" and save that sighting to your free Cornell Lab account. As you record when and where you see birds, you'll be able to watch your life list grow!
1.7.4
Jun 9, 2020
# New common name options
English, UAE
English, Bangladesh
English, Kenya
English, Philippiness
English, South Africa
French, Guadeloupe
French, Haiti
Indonesian
Japanese
Korean
Mongolian
Romanian
# Various bug fixes
English, UAE
English, Bangladesh
English, Kenya
English, Philippiness
English, South Africa
French, Guadeloupe
French, Haiti
Indonesian
Japanese
Korean
Mongolian
Romanian
# Various bug fixes
1.7.3
May 1, 2020
This update adds support for the Swarovski Optik dG, as well as various fixes and improvements to help you identify more birds.
1.7.2
Mar 28, 2020
This update adds support for the Swarovski Optik dG, as well as various fixes and improvements to help you identify more birds.
New - support for upcoming packs in French and German
New - support for upcoming packs in French and German
Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab FAQ
Click here to learn how to download Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab in restricted country or region.
Check the following list to see the minimum requirements of Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab.
iPhone
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab supports English, Afrikaans, Arabic, Danish, French, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malayalam, Marathi, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish
