Learning bird songs and calls can greatly enhance your birding experience. Merlin has become a wonderfully helpful phone app for identifying the birds singing and calling around you. It has been trained using artifical intelligence to distinguish among the various species. It is great fun to sit still with the sound ID running and see what all Merlin detects. The critical thing is to use it as a tool, not solely as an identification guide because it is not 100% accurate. Merlin is a great birding companion that suggests which species are more likely, but it relies on you to confirm what you’re hearing or seeing. Mimics such as Northern Mockingbird can imitate a number of different species as can the pictured Yellow-breasted Chat. Some family groups such as the vireos have very similar songs and are easily confused. The songs of eastern and western cousins, like Rose-breasted and Black-headed Grosbeaks, can be very similar. Follow these simple rules and have fun!

• Do not report species solely identified by Merlin to eBird
• Use the species listed as a guide for finding them
• Make certain you have location services enabled or set your location when you start recording so it matches the birds in your area
• Download the bird pack for your area to help you learn more about the species Merlin is recording