Sound ID

[Gary Brower]

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

[Jeff Percell]

I've been using the Merlin Bird Sound app since it was first released in beta. I've found that while it's amazing, I've also seen several false IDs, particularly when there is some background noise such as wind. 

You also might try to upload the audio here, which is the API behind Bird NET, which is an app I was using prior to Merlin (which I've now switched over to Merlin because it's a lot more user friendly).

https://birdnet.cornell.edu/api/

Also, you might upload your sound somewhere that makes it a little easier for others to view, such as an eBird checklist (which as the ID is in question, upload it as Passerine sp. initially). 

Thanks,
Jeff Percell

Weld County

[Gary Brower]

Thanks, Jeff.

I used Bird Net too, before Merlin.  I agree about Merlin’s interface being a lot more user-friendly.    I wasn’t sure how to do the upload, though, so your email was helpful.

BirdNet says Dark-Eyed Junco, with Chipping Sparrow second, and Flammulated Owl third.  I’ll go with DEJU!

Interesting, that BirdNet was (is?) associated with Cornell, too . . . and that they’d give such different results!

Gary Brower

Unincorporated Arapahoe County

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[Charles Hundertmark]

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:

[Chip Clouse]

I ran into Andrew Spencer and Nathan Pieplow out on the Pawnee a couple of weeks ago and Andrew basically said (if I understood correctly) that Birdnet and Merlin were different teams of Cornell etc. researchers working on the same question separately. He said Merlin should be more accurate than Birdnet and will also get better with time. It only recognizes a limited number of species currently and I've had it suggest crazy things way out of range. Eventually it will be amazing and I'm already impressed.

Chip Clouse

Erie, CO

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[Gary Brower]

Chip, Jeff, Charles, et al,

Thanks for the great info on the backgrounds of BirdNet and Merlin. I know that these will get better in time. 

Is there a way to let the Merlin-ites know of the false/problematic ID of the Pine Warbler (in my case), so that they can use that feedback to tweak things in subsequent releases?

Gary Brower

Unincorporated Arapahoe County

[Charles Hundertmark]

Here’s what Merlin folks offer as a feedback route:

"If you’ve tried Sound ID in Merlin, we’d love to hear about your experience. You can get in touch on Twitter, where the Macaulay Library is @MacaulayLibrary."

I’ve avoided Twitter, so doesn’t work for me.

Chuck

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[Gary Brower]

Thanks, Chuck,

It would make sense that to communicate with Merlin, one would “tweet”. . .  but I don’t either.

Gary

[Nathan Pieplow]

It's true that Merlin Sound ID will get better with time. Right now it only recognizes 458 species. It's also likely to work better with songs than with calls, and it works better when you are in an area with cell service. If you have no service, it can't check its list of suggestions against what's expected to be in your area at that time.

And Chuck is right to recommend thinking of it as "Merlin Sound Suggestions." In fact, the word the Merlin team uses for the bird names that pop up is "predictions."

https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/2021/06/22/behind-the-scenes-of-sound-id-in-merlin/

But it is a pretty cool feat of coding, and I highly recommend getting out and testing it for yourself.

Nathan Pieplow

Boulder

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[Arthur Bezuidenhout]

I think that it is actually well done. I have used it on recorded songs, and they have come out spot on, The very best part is it actually picks up songs of several birds that may be singing, and even picks up sounds that my ears did not  hear. It will give you suggestions of all the birds it "hears".

Bez Bezuidenhout

Arapahoe County

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[l p]

 in the past i was able to record bird song using the merlin app  or birdnet app on my Samsung phone, send the recording to my email and ultimately attach the bird ID recording to an ebird checklist accessed on my desktop computer.   recently,  for some reason, the  apps capture the bird song, and ID the bird, however,  when i finally attach to checklist  there is virtually no sound recording -   i.e., the attachment works, but the  checklist media recording  is so quiet it is worthless.    i recall a youtube video by CFO (i think....)  for the Merlin app, although i can't locate it.   can somebody please send me the link for the youtube video?  or a link to a good youtube video about this topic.   maybe i can get this straightened out on my own without too much back and forth and people's time.      

and to be fair, for this particular ID task, the birdnet app, although 'clunky',  did work better than Merlin, although Merlin has now really improved the sound ID feature.    

technology: all microphones and speakers are turned up to full volume, fyi. 

lastly,  I don't keep checklists on my phone, i just don't have the accurate field ID skills, so, I do it old fashioned way;    i keep a notepad list and take lots of photos in the field, then at home work on bird ID, and finally process the checklist (species and media) from my  desktop.  

thanks

linda purcell