I'll add a couple of things about using Merlin as a birding aid during my largely back-yard birding.

First, I'll chime in with the frustration that Merlin refuses to hear some things. I have stood literal feet away from a singing Varied Thrush, for instance, and it insists there are no birds singing. Okay, so I KNOW what a VATH sounds like, but what else might I be missing with my aging ears?

Second, on the positive side, it's been really useful at ID-ing things that just sound funny to me. I had a passel of house finches not so long ago, and then I heard one weirdly musical house finch in the mix, fired up Merlin, and it confidently told me THAT one was a Purple Finch, which I was able to track down and distinguish as indeed different. Kudos, Merlin!

Josh Hayes
Joshuaahayes at proton.me
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