Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab

Screenshots

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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
• Choose bird packs that contain 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

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Developer ID: 6708160154825460990

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Ratings & Reviews

4.4

182,156 ratings

10,000,000+ downloads

5★
77%
4★
6%
3★
5%
2★
3%
1★
8%

Recent Reviews

Alison Barker

v3.10.1

Great app but there is room for improvement. I'd like it to keep a list of when you have managed to hear your bird of the day. It doesn't always hear birds correctly. If I get a new bird I now consult Google to see if said bird sounds like any breed of bird as it's often a mistake. It struggles to pick up gulls, possibly because they all sound similar. Very annoyingly it refuses to correctly pick up what I think is a Kite. It just doesn't hear it correctly. 🐦

Oct 4, 2026

Michael Lloyd

v4.1

birding just wouldn't be the same without Merlin!

Oct 4, 2026

Silas Langenderfer

v4.2

This app is AWESOME! No ads and offline support... how great! And the best part is, I have found an enjoyable new hobby! Merlin makes birding a memorable experience. But now it doesn't properly show my location

Oct 4, 2026

Ben Smith Lea

v4.2

changed my life

Oct 4, 2026

Diane Kilcrease

v4.1

awesome thanks 😊 🙏 👍

Oct 4, 2026

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