I enjoyed reading this. I wrote a piece a while ago about a fear that non-profit science orgs, on tight budgets, could use AI tools to replace traditional fieldworkers. Whether founded, or not, I appreciate knowing that other birders have similar thoughts.
Part of this conversation feels like the “back in my day” argument, which is ok. I, too, pride myself on the decades of study I’ve put into my field guides and Stokes CDs. I also hope that these new tools get new people interested in birds, that’s the main goal. In fact, I’ve seen it happen; I know so many non birders that use Merlin regularly, and I love when they share screenshots of their sound IDs with me.
Bob, do you happen to know the farthest distance that Merlin can hear a bird?
Merlin said it could hear a sora rail one day, but I have never seen one on our farm, nor could I hear their characteristic whinny at that time myself. So I’m wondering if Merlin was actually hearing a horse whinny on a distant horse farm?
Just curious!
PS - I didn’t report it to Ebird. I never use Merlin as my only 🆔 for Ebird.
Merlin has helped speed up the process of learning bird song for me. Combined with a visual on the bird, it can reinforce what I'm seeing. Obviously it can't be trusted completely and blindly, as some people do. A birder needs to have the background knowledge as well.
I enjoyed reading this. I wrote a piece a while ago about a fear that non-profit science orgs, on tight budgets, could use AI tools to replace traditional fieldworkers. Whether founded, or not, I appreciate knowing that other birders have similar thoughts.
Part of this conversation feels like the “back in my day” argument, which is ok. I, too, pride myself on the decades of study I’ve put into my field guides and Stokes CDs. I also hope that these new tools get new people interested in birds, that’s the main goal. In fact, I’ve seen it happen; I know so many non birders that use Merlin regularly, and I love when they share screenshots of their sound IDs with me.
Thanks for the good read.
Edit: Peterson western bird CDs.
Bob, do you happen to know the farthest distance that Merlin can hear a bird?
Merlin said it could hear a sora rail one day, but I have never seen one on our farm, nor could I hear their characteristic whinny at that time myself. So I’m wondering if Merlin was actually hearing a horse whinny on a distant horse farm?
Just curious!
PS - I didn’t report it to Ebird. I never use Merlin as my only 🆔 for Ebird.
All those years of learning bird song will keep your brain young. But the Merlin app is ingenious!
Merlin has helped speed up the process of learning bird song for me. Combined with a visual on the bird, it can reinforce what I'm seeing. Obviously it can't be trusted completely and blindly, as some people do. A birder needs to have the background knowledge as well.