What's that bird? Ask Merlin—the world’s 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 app—it's powered by eBird, the world’s 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 you’re curious about a bird you’ve seen once or you’re 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 YOU’LL 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 sightings—build 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
• Merlin has bird 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 Ornithology’s mission is to interpret and conserve the Earth’s 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.
An app has to have something special for me to rate it, let alone leave a review. I have zero knowledge or experience with birds or ornithology in general. However, I used to hear birds sing and wonder what they were. Now, with this app, I know. I used to see birds flutter their wings and wonder what they were. Now, with this app, I know. Thank you to all of those involved in the development of this app. Congratulations.
Spectogram not available
spilldabeans
The app is very good for beginners who need to start identifying birds by sound or sight. It relies on AI so is not perfect (for example it cannot deal with mimicry very well), and yet there does not seem to be a feedback mechanism to improve the AI. Say it picks up a curlew but you can clearly see a starling is mimicking, there should be a way to feed this into the AI. Other than that, easy to use and set up, ability to download recordings is great for confirming sightings on ebird and xeno-canto. The problem here is that lately, it is unable to render a spectogram more often than not, and there does not seem to be any support to remediate this !!So very good app, don't rely on it exclusively, use it only to back up your own sight and sound observations, and please get the issues stated fixed and I will up it to five star !!
Merlin app
Singing birds 1
I have sent my email address and still haven’t go email to verify and my time has expired . Loved the app but now I cannot use it anymore have sent email address again still no reply . Have also checked my junk emails and it’s not there either . Thanking you
Just lovely
Keelan38
I’ve a very passing interest in birds And birdwatching but this app has given me great reason to pause and listen to the birdsong around me from time to time.Sometimes I now might not open the app if I recognise the birds, but I’ll still stop to listen.Highly recommend and very easy to use.
What's new in 4.2.1:
Identifying birds with a picture is easier than ever. No need to crop your picture - simply upload your photo, add the location, and we'll take care of the rest.
The sound recordings now include descriptive captions for some species, helping you understand what you're hearing and learn the key sounds that identify each species.
Seasonally Dynamic Media: See how birds change throughout the year! Photos and sounds now adapt to the changing seasons, highlighting how birds can look and sound different throughout the year.
Bug fixes and behind-the-scenes improvements.
Version 4.2.1
The developer, Cornell University, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Location
Contact Info
Usage Data
Privacy practices may vary based, for example, on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Size
334.9 MB
Category
Reference
Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
