Calling All Bird Lovers: We're Obsessed With This Identifcation App

pcmag.com:

Birds are back. I don't mean in a migratory sense; I mean in popularity. Since 2020, birding has been on the rise and has proved to be more than a fad(Opens in a new window). Everyone I chat with these days seems to be captivated by corvids, wowed by wood ducks, and obsessed with owls. 

There's no end to research and articles(Opens in a new window) touting the mental(Opens in a new window) and physical(Opens in a new window) health benefits(Opens in a new window) of simply being outdoors or going for a hike(Opens in a new window). But even beyond that, listening to birdsong(Opens in a new window)—including when it's recorded—seems to have additional positive effects on wellness.

Part of the appeal of birding may be the very low barrier to entry—you don't need anything more than to go outside to observe birds. And if you want help identifying them, the Merlin Bird ID app(Opens in a new window) by Cornell Lab is where you should start.

As its name suggests, Merlin Bird ID is a free app that helps you identify birds. You can do it the old-fashioned way by observing the bird's looks and actions and scouring a list to find one that matches. Or you can get more help with a few smart tools that identify birds by pictures you upload or even more conveniently, by their songs and calls as you record them. It's kind of like Shazam for birds.

The Sound ID takes the low barrier of entry to birding and makes it almost nonexistent. All you have to do is set up the app and then stand close enough to a bird to hear its tweets and whistles. You press a large microphone button and the app records the bird's sounds, showing you in a real-time waveform graph what it's picking up. When it identifies a species, an info card for that bird