Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab

Cornell University · 4.8 ★ · FREE

Screenshots

Description

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.

Developer

What's New

Version 3.8.4 · 7 Apr 2026

What’s new in 3.8.4: Sound ID is better at listening for birds, and now includes hundreds of new species in Central and South America, Australia, Hawai’i, the Caribbean, Taiwan, and India! A smarter Explore experience. As you travel to new locations, Merlin will keep you updated on birds found in that new spot Improvements and new species added to Photo ID Nearby Places: Get ready to explore! Get seasonal suggestions for nearby places where you can find your Bird of the Day, and other birds you want to see

Ratings & Reviews

4.8

9,267 ratings

Recent Reviews

GeoS865

v3.8.4

Fantastic app

I break out the app every time I hear a chorus of birdsong. Wonderful for identifying the many different types of birds. I’ve learned so much. Easy/fun to use. Thanks

16 Apr 2026

Memanack

v3.8.4

I tell everyone I meet about this app

We’ve been travelling the world and have loved using Merlin to learn which birds we’re meeting on the way. I tell everyone we meet about this app, it’s such a gem and unbelievable that it’s free!

14 Apr 2026

………none

v3.8.4

Addictively peaceful

Only downloaded an hour ago, have spent 20 mins on it, in 2 sessions when I hear the choir ramp up in the woods at the bottom of our garden. So simple to use, not invasive at all as it doesn’t require a sign up or creation of a username etc. The functionality is fantastically well designed. The bird identifications pop up and highlight when detected. The scrolling graph at the top showing the waves and notes of what you’re recording is fascinating too. Amazing to see how birdsong translates to its own language written in beautiful calligraphy. What a great app, I love it & will be recommending to anyone who finds joy in nature.

13 Apr 2026

Mildlymad 12345432

v3.8.4

Brilliant

One of the best apps on my phone. I LOVE it. I’m getting to recognise more and more birds and it picks up birds that I didn’t even know were in the area. And so much useful information and great photos. It’s a must for all bird lovers.

12 Apr 2026

FaithA209

v3.8.4

Easy to use and interactive - just one thing missing!

I love this app. I used to use Birda, which was also great, but the sound identification feature is literally unbeatable. It makes birdspotting even more fun! The only nitpick I have is that it doesn’t have a map feature. I would love if there was a map that you could view all of your lifers on (seeing as we have the life list, it would be really helpful to visualise where you’ve seen everything) otherwise, no notes!

8 Apr 2026

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