[cobirds] Re: Sound ID

Gary Brower's question hits an important issue with the new Merlin Sound ID app. I don't propose to solve Gary's mystery, but I've been using the new app in the field myself since it came out and have found that it must be used in combination with good judgement. (Gary used that judgement in not automatically accepting Merlin's suggestion of Pine Warbler for the song he recorded.) Jeff Percell is spot on in noting that the new app is both amazing and does offer false IDs. 

While the name of the new app is Merlin Sound ID, it would be a better mindset to think of it as Merlin Sound suggestions. Sometimes this is obvious when Merlin first offers one suggestion, then a second and even a third. The correct ID might be any one of the three suggestions. Other times, Merlin may come up with the correct ID immediately. Sometimes, Merlin may be totally off base. In South Park this week, I recorded a warbler chip in willow carr that I was pretty certain was a Wilson's Warbler. I wanted to confirm the ID and also just wanted a Wilson's Warbler recording, so I used the new app. I was quite close to the bird and expected a good recording and easy ID. I was surprised that Merlin first suggested Common Yellowthroat, then MacGillivray's Warbler. It also offered several other suggestions that were really more distant birds singing. Merlin never picked up the Wilson's ID, but I confirmed that ID visually with a nice look at the calling male. Per Jeff Percell's observation, the background noise, in this instance a stream, may have thrown Merlin off.

The new Merlin Sound Suggestion app is going to help many of us improve our identification of birds by sound and as a side benefit, help us enjoy and appreciate birds more. It will also help us appreciate the challenge of distinguishing similar sounding songs and calls like the trills of Chipping Sparrows, Gray-headed Juncos, and Pine Warblers. Another great help with that is Nathan Pieplow's Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds web site.

Chuck Hundertmark

Lafayette, CO

On Friday, July 9, 2021 at 7:52:32 PM UTC-6 grb...@gmail.com wrote:

COBirders,

Yesterday, I participated in David Hallock's Indian Peaks Breeding Bird Count. My "area" was the Woodland Lake Trail (accessed from Hessie Trailhead, near Nederland). I kept hearing a bird that I couldn't quite identify. It didn't sound quite like a Chipping Sparrow or Dark-eyed Junco, so I thought I'd try the new Merlin Bird Sound app (which is amazing, I must say). Without hesitation, or providing any other suggestions, it identified the sound/bird as a Pine Warbler. Since eBird designates that bird as "rare", I don't want to say that that's what it was, solely on the basis of the call.

I have a recording that I'm happy to share, if someone would like to help me (and Merlin) make the right (pardon the pun) "call".

Thanks so much!

Gary Brower
Unincorporated Arapahoe County

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/7429d632-197a-4412-8c47-f4df4cfb83d6n%40googlegroups.com.