Merlin ID (1 Viewer)

[pdwinter]

I'm sitting here on the edge of Southampton in the southern UK running the Merlin app (on android) for which I have the Western Palearctic pack installed.
I'm playing a 'standard' Iberian Chiffchaff song from xeno canto and Merlin doesn't recognise it despite Iberian Chiffchaff being a species on the Sound Id bird list.
Is that because it's using my location or are there just some species for which it doesn't work very well?
Thanks

 

[Andy Adcock]

I'm sitting here on the edge of Southampton in the southern UK running the Merlin app (on android) for which I have the Western Palearctic pack installed.
I'm playing a 'standard' Iberian Chiffchaff song from xeno canto and Merlin doesn't recognise it despite Iberian Chiffchaff being a species on the Sound Id bird list.
Is that because it's using my location or are there just some species for which it doesn't work very well?
Thanks

Another possibility is that the XC recording is wrong?

 

[Richard Prior]

I'm sitting here on the edge of Southampton in the southern UK running the Merlin app (on android) for which I have the Western Palearctic pack installed.
I'm playing a 'standard' Iberian Chiffchaff song from xeno canto and Merlin doesn't recognise it despite Iberian Chiffchaff being a species on the Sound Id bird list.
Is that because it's using my location or are there just some species for which it doesn't work very well?
Thanks

What is Merlin suggesting your recording is?

 

[pdwinter]

What is Merlin suggesting your recording is?

On this current recording it's suggesting Wren.

 

[pdwinter]

Another possibility is that the XC recording is wrong?

I've picked a few tracks where it sounds like a 'bog standard' Iberian Chiffchaff to me, Andy, although that's no guarantee!

 

[KenM]

Early days yet, but I’ve started to test “Merlin” in the field and first results seem promising.
Correctly ID’ing (was quite close to all three just metres away) Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap, however it didn’t pick up on Cuckoo which could have been 4-500m away and had I not had my hearing aids….nor would I have!
However what really impressed me, was its first choice on an image ID, defaulting to the less common species before the regular, whether this was a coincidence or not, I can only wonder.😮
I know that it’s ID was correct, because size was noted as it emerged flying from the tangle, from which I was quite lucky, being already primed on focus point and zoom.
Location Paphos headland.

Cheers

 

[gerald762]

I'm sitting here on the edge of Southampton in the southern UK running the Merlin app (on android) for which I have the Western Palearctic pack installed.
I'm playing a 'standard' Iberian Chiffchaff song from xeno canto and Merlin doesn't recognise it despite Iberian Chiffchaff being a species on the Sound Id bird list.
Is that because it's using my location or are there just some species for which it doesn't work very well?
Thanks

I have noticed that Merlin cannot pick up birdsong from my television. Perhaps there is frequency variation on the output from tv/mobile speakers

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Ken,

you know I cant resistent...
Quizmodus: if Merlin suggested Great Reed Warbler, than its the correct ID imo.

 

[KenM]

I have noticed that Merlin cannot pick up birdsong from my television. Perhaps there is frequency variation on the output from tv/mobile speakers

On the three occasions that I’ve used it “in the field” (the subject birds were very clear and close), the ID was correct at all times.
I suspect gerald that you’re right, regarding “pick-up” from internal electrical devices.👍

 

[pdwinter]

I have noticed that Merlin cannot pick up birdsong from my television. Perhaps there is frequency variation on the output from tv/mobile speakers

That's a thought - I think you must be right.

I've just tried a few extra species that are on the merlin "able to id" using the Roche recordings stored on computer and played through the computer.

The following it identified

Lesser Whitethroat
Common Chiffchaff
Wood Warbler
Marsh Tit
Reed Warbler
Sedge Warbler

The following it didn't identify

Marsh Warbler
Willow Tit
Booted Eagle
Serin
Sardinian Warbler
Corn Bunting
Cirl Bunting

I'll be in Malaga province, Spain for 3 1/2 weeks from 20th May so will be able to check out the latter 4 or 5 in the field.

Paul

 

[pdwinter]

Early days yet, but I’ve started to test “Merlin” in the field and first results seem promising.
Correctly ID’ing (was quite close to all three just metres away) Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap, however it didn’t pick up on Cuckoo which could have been 4-500m away and had I not had my hearing aids….nor would I have!
Cheers

I've also been trying it in the field and it seems to be accurate for the common UK species. It's picked up a few I wasn't hearing but could do when I turned myself round to point my hearing aids in the right direction.

 

[jurek]

I recently played with Merlin in the mainland Europe, and it recognizes ca 50% of birds, and wrongly identifies or hallucinates about 3%
Among the common birds, it seems to very easily recognize Robin and Wren compared to other species, which I suspect is because these two are extremely common in Britain, where presumably training recordings come from. But it struggles with Starling calls, and generally ignores Great Reed Warblers.

 

[WACCOE]

Since the update I can no longer delete recent locations anyone else have this problem?

 

[Brad Hacker]

Can you clarify "delete recent locations"? Do you mean bird packs or recordings at specific locations or something else?

 

[WACCOE]

Can you clarify "delete recent locations"? Do you mean bird packs or recordings at specific locations or something else?

Locations where you are birding for example Kilnsea East Yorkshire.

 

[Brad Hacker]

I'm not sure this has ever been possible in Merlin on an iphone.
Deleting, merging, renaming and moving of personal locations is possible at "https://ebird.org/mylocations"
Deleting may only be possible if you remove the checklists from the location.
(Sorry to be so dense if I am off down the wrong rabbit hole.)

 

[Brian Robertson]

Merlin correctly identified Corn Bunting for me, confirmed by seeing it. It through up Icterine Warbler and Marsh Warbler recently though which is somewhat unlikely in Angus.

 

[bittern]

Merlin correctly identified Corn Bunting for me, confirmed by seeing it. It through up Icterine Warbler and Marsh Warbler recently though which is somewhat unlikely in Angus.

I am using Merlin in Switzerland and it does seem to be over enthusiastically detecting Marsh Warblers, even though we have some! It is very bad with some water birds such as Great Crested Grebes which are very noisy during the breeding period but ignores them completely! Sometimes it can be surprisingly good, the other day detecting a Bonelli's Warbler's very brief and distant call that l also heard myself.

Mike

 

[jurek]

I have been playing with Merlin sound extensively for the past 2 months in Switzerland and Germany, and I still find that it identifies some birds immediately and some after a long time or not at all (among the species on the list which it supposedly identifies). Which introduces some interesting bias. It is not related to the microphone, because bird sounds become well visible on the sonogram produced, but ebird does not pick the species.

 

[YuShan]

I'm pretty impressed with it for picking up common birds, even when very far away. I saw a Corn Bunting last week that flew away before I could get my phone ready. It landed far away from me and his song was only faintly audible in the distance, but Merlin picked it up within a couple of seconds, along with 4 other species that where more near to me.

In the Philippines it was obviously not yet trained on most of the birds there, but it kept picking up a few common birds such as Coppersmith Barbet and most of all: Red Junglefowl (either domesticated or wild ).