Finding Joy in a Bird ID App

What it is: Merlin essentially catalogs and helps identify birds in your area based on their looks and their songs or calls. I use the sound ID option; it works just like any audio recorder in your phone. Just hit the sound record button and let it rip for a few minutes at a time to see what you hear. It’s amazing in May in particular, when loads of birds migrate. I live in the Midwest and I’ll pick up sometimes as many as 10 species a minute, and some of them are birds I’ve never seen. I really was clueless about birds and their calls (other than the ones we all know, such as blue jays, cardinals, and robins) until I discovered this app. When Merlin picks up a bird song, it also displays an image of the bird on the screen. When you pick up several and keep recording, it highlights the one making the most recent sounds so you can figure it out. There’s also an option later to click on any particular bird to hear its songs and calls. <a href="https://medium.com/@KatAtomic/finding-joy-in-a-bird-id-app-46fcaf52e50d">Read More</a>