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.
Updated on
14 May 2025
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This app is awesome! One of my very few complaints about it currently is the map. When I go to mark a new bird found, the entire map is grayed out and cant see anything. And thats with my location on. I'm unable to see where I marked birds or any of my locations because you can't see this map at all. Please fix this and it's back to 5 stars!
7 people found this review helpful
Shea
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16 May 2025
Great app! I love the info about birds, the pictures, the call recordings, etc! It's been so fun keeping an eye (and ear) out for the birds in my area, since it gets me off my phone & interacting with my surroundings for once! My criticisms: 1) I'm unable to see a list of birds that I've sighted for the DAY. All I'm able to do is see the TOTAL list of spotted birds. This affects my feelings of achievement. 2) There are too many steps to log a sighting each time. This affects motivation to log.
10 people found this review helpful
Melissa Blomquist
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25 April 2025
Super easy to navigate. Offers up very specific species based on my location and other identifying factors. Also has an easy to use and accurate photo ID option. It has bird calls and songs for each species, and I enjoy playing them to hear the birds respond. I have even used it on bird watching walks to call in the birds to take better pictures. If there was one thing I would change about it, I would add a feature to share the beautiful audio recordings I have captured.
168 people found this review helpful
What's new
- ID Tips: Enjoy bite-sized bits of birding joy as you listen! While running Sound ID, keep an eye out for short videos and photos that will help you identify and learn more about the birds you are hearing. - Improved Search on Explore Species: Discover bird species near you, at different times of the year, and in any other location in the world with a new, expanded search feature! - Sound ID now includes hundreds of new species in Central and South America, India, Taiwan, and Australia!