How to identify birds faster with Merlin and eBird

Female Common Yellowthroat

    

    My mom loves birdwatching like me and frequently accompanies me on my bird walks. However, she does not know many bird species in our area, especially warblers. A few days ago(September 28, specifically), she spotted "a yellow-bellied bird with a dark-brown back." The enigmatic bird had repeatedly come to our neighborhood dogwood tree for the past few days, and I was mystified as to what bird it could be. In the northeastern USA, late September is a ripe time for bird migration. The bird had to be a warbler, although this conclusion did not narrow down possible birds by much. Various of these little songbirds fly through our area during this time, and although male warblers are easy to identify, their female versions are much more difficult.

    

    This is where Merlin Bird ID comes in(not sponsored). Merlin Bird ID, created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a free-to-use app that identifies birds for you. Merlin can recognize a bird through its sound or photograph, but I find the best approach is to answer a simple survey. All you have to do for this approach is answer questions about the size of the bird, the primary colors, etc.

To figure out the identity of the mystery bird, I pulled up Merlin on my phone and started answering the survey(my mom could not take any photos). Within seconds, I had a list of possible birds and their pictures so my mom could tell me what bird she saw. Unsurprisingly, the most likely bird from Merlin was the one my mom said she saw! In case you did not figure it out, the mystery bird was a female common yellowthroat or the first image in this post. In short, Merlin Bird ID is a convenient bird identification app that saves tons of hours of useless research.

    However, Merlin is not the only helpful bird ID app in the field. I am talking about eBird, an online database of bird observations from birdwatchers all around the globe. eBird organizes these observations in a feature called hotspots, which I believe is the best feature on this website(or app). Hotspots in eBird are areas where birders frequently go birdwatching, although hotspots tend to host numerous bird species too. Let us say you are on a birding trip to California. If you do not want to travel too far, you can use eBird hotspots to see popular birding spots near you. I mainly use this feature for my bird walks to see if any rarities are in my area.

    Merlin and eBird are two of the best online resources I use to identify birds in my area, and you should use them to save time identifying birds. Bird field guides are turning digital, and Merlin and eBird are at the forefront of this technology. Now go use these apps; who knows how many countless hours you will save!