What's that bird? Ask Merlināthe worldās 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 appāit's powered by eBird, the worldās 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 youāre curious about a bird youāve seen once or youāre 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 YOUāLL LOVE MERLIN ⢠Expert ID tips, range maps, photos, and sounds help you learn about the birds you spot and build birding skills. ⢠Discover a new bird species each day with your own personalized Bird of the Day ⢠Get customized lists of birds you can find where you live or travel - anywhere in the world! ⢠Keep track of your sightingsābuild your personal list of the birds you find
MACHINE LEARNING MAGIC ⢠Powered by Visipedia, Merlin Sound ID and Photo ID uses machine 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.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithologyās mission is to interpret and conserve the Earthās biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds and nature. We are able to offer Merlin for free thanks to the generosity of Cornell Lab members, supporters, and citizen-science contributors.
Updated on
May 14, 2025
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The app is OK for bird ID but there is a facility to add birds to your life list. Unfortunately the only way this works is if you have Id'd a bird by sound, photo or description. If you already know the bird, you can't add it to the list which is ridiculous. Having tried to contact support, your get nowhere. A bot replies with a suggestion which is not relevant and then says my query will be passed on, and that's the last you hear from them. I've tried 3 times over a year and got nowhere.
33 people found this review helpful
Shea
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May 16, 2025
Great app! I love the info about birds, the pictures, the call recordings, etc! It's been so fun keeping an eye (and ear) out for the birds in my area, since it gets me off my phone & interacting with my surroundings for once! My criticisms: 1) I'm unable to see a list of birds that I've sighted for the DAY. All I'm able to do is see the TOTAL list of spotted birds. This affects my feelings of achievement. 2) There are too many steps to log a sighting each time. This affects motivation to log.
1 person found this review helpful
Lee Gerrard
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April 29, 2025
This would be 5 stars, but there is one thing that annoys me about this app. It tells you if the birds are common, uncommon, or rare which is great, but for some reason that feature disappears once the bird is on your life list. Seeing this feature on the profiles as well as when you are scrolling your life list would be excellent. Other than that, this is a great app that I definitely recommend to anyone interested in birding.
4 people found this review helpful
Whatās new
- ID Tips: Enjoy bite-sized bits of birding joy as you listen! While running Sound ID, keep an eye out for short videos and photos that will help you identify and learn more about the birds you are hearing. - Improved Search on Explore Species: Discover bird species near you, at different times of the year, and in any other location in the world with a new, expanded search feature! - Sound ID now includes hundreds of new species in Central and South America, India, Taiwan, and Australia!