Iberian Chiffchaff dilemma (1 Viewer)

[James Fennel]

Hello all.
When using the Merlin Bird ID today at a local nature reserve, it, on sound ID, identified a bird as an Iberian Chiffchaff. I was sceptical of this but I still posted it on BirdGuides (as a possible). Later, looking on the BirdGuides's Birdmap, I noticed there was another sighting of another possible Iberian Chiffchaff heard.
Is Merlin getting mixed up?
It is the start of spring in England so the app maybe getting mixed up with a chick call.
What do you think about this?
If you wish to visit the nature reserve yourself to try and find it, it is Ketton Quarry LRWT Nature Reserve.

 

[Phil Andrews]

Did you take a record James?

My concern at this time of year early in the Spring is that there are a number of "tentative singers" whose stuttering / broken song could potentially be mistaken for IC.

 

[Prestdj]

i dont rate apps for identifying birds a book is far better or even a few books, i notice you make no mention of what you heard or saw just the app said iberian warbler which you questioned
i would never use an app to rely on identification and instead rely on my peers

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

It is the start of spring in England so the app maybe getting mixed up with a chick call.

It's still very early for most species to have young.

Has it picked up song, a call or do you not know. As well as 'tentative singers' there are birds which combine Chiff Chaff and Willow Warbler song that can sound a bit like Iberian Chiffs, I think I've heard these are generally Willow Warblers but not sure where I saw that.

 

[Phil Andrews]

It's still very early for most species to have young.

Has it picked up song, a call or do you not know. As well as 'tentative singers' there are birds which combine Chiff Chaff and Willow Warbler song that can sound a bit like Iberian Chiffs, I think I've heard these are generally Willow Warblers but not sure where I saw that.

An interesting paper by Alan Dean re mixed singers

Willow Warblers, 'mixed singers', West Midlands

 

[aeshna5]

One has been claimed at a well watched London site the last 2 days, but only one observer has reported it. No idea whether there is one or not, but it seems odd nobody else has connected with it at such a well birded site.

 

[Nightjar61]

I’m not sure I’d trust Merlin. I don’t use it myself but I know several people who have had questionable birds “identified”. As an example, a beginning birder I know had Merlin tell her there were Evening Grosbeaks and an American Goshawk in her yard at the same time. This was in West Virginia in July. Neither species is here in the summer, and both are very rare even in the winter.

Dave

 

[Kirk Roth]

Hello all.
When using the Merlin Bird ID today at a local nature reserve, it, on sound ID, identified a bird as an Iberian Chiffchaff. I was sceptical of this but I still posted it on BirdGuides (as a possible). Later, looking on the BirdGuides's Birdmap, I noticed there was another sighting of another possible Iberian Chiffchaff heard.
Is Merlin getting mixed up?
It is the start of spring in England so the app maybe getting mixed up with a chick call.
What do you think about this?
If you wish to visit the nature reserve yourself to try and find it, it is Ketton Quarry LRWT Nature Reserve.

Merlin is notorious for misidentifications - unusual (e.g. out of range/season) sound "IDs" need to be backed up by other evidence and never taken as confirmation just by itself. I believe that Merlin's own guidance declares this.

As with any tool used in birding - multiple lines of evidence are always better than one, and the more extraordinary the claim the stronger the evidence needs to be. As a reviewer, I'd say that was not an Iberian until proven otherwise - despite what an automated app might compute.

I like Merlin for its ability to point me in the right direction for what is around - speaking at least for the areas of North America in which I've used it. It is great at getting me to appreciate high pitched chip notes that might not catch my attention and alerts me to look around to find (or confirm) what it is hearing. However, odd quirks are inevitable especially with strange calls and rare species. In south Texas I used it to obtain a recording of a Crimson-collared Grosbeak - Merlin somehow insisted that it was a Northern Harrier! I've also had a different sound-ID device (not associated at all with Merlin - but a good system) identify my footsteps as a Great Blue Heron, with a Green-winged Teal call thrown in, at my dry suburban backyard.

Artificial intelligence is great - but don't forget to apply the natural kind too!

 

[kb57]

Merlin IDed little egret and great egret for me at an inland site in Portugal this morning - neither were present, but there were a few toads calling from the river...it also IDed tree sparrow (for house sparrow), Iberian grey shrike (I was looking at a woodchat shrike at the time) and garden warbler (I really don't know what for, a nightingale and Dartford warbler were singing at the time...). Sometimes it's great, and will draw your attention to something you haven't noticed, but it had a bad day today.