How to Identify a Bird by Its Sound and Song / by Chris Maynard

Identifying what bird is making that sound is easy. Use the phone app, MERLIN offered for free from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Here is a blurb from their website:

“Sound ID unlocks a whole new way of enjoying nature that produces not just one magical moment but many,” said Jessie Barry, program manager of the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab. “It really does feel like magic when you match a mystery sound with the name of the bird making it.”

Merlin makes it easy to identify birds as they’re singing. Simply hold up your smart phone, tap the Sound ID button, and Merlin shows you the name of each bird detected in real time, along with a photo to help you clinch the ID.

I tend to focus on my sense of sight. This app encourages me to open to the world of sound.