Merlin Bird ID
Designed for anyone interested in identifying birds, Merlin is a machine learning-powered bird ID tool created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. As a global bird guide, it can help you identify birds anywhere in the world.
Machine Learning Magic
Merlin uses computer vision and machine learning technology to identify birds in photos and sounds. Merlin learns to recognize bird species based on sets of millions of photos and sounds submitted to eBird by birders around the world, archived in the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab.
Photo ID was developed by Dr. Grant Van Horn while a member of Dr. Pietro Perona’s computational vision lab at Caltech, and Dr. Serge Belongie’s computer vision group at Cornell Tech, collaborators on the Visipedia project. Merlin Sound ID was developed by a team at the Macaulay Library, led by Dr. Grant Van Horn.
Community Powered
Merlin is powered by birders like you! Merlin taps into over a billion records in the eBird citizen-science database to find out which birds are likely to be found in your vicinity on a given date. The 87,000+ photos and sounds featured in Merlin are from thousands of photographers and sound recordists who submit their media to the Macaulay Library through eBird. Merlin delivers accurate results thanks to the experienced birders who curate and annotate the photos and sounds used to train Photo ID and Sound ID.
Our Thanks
Merlin is made possible by support from the Macaulay Family Foundation, the National Science Foundation (grant number DRL-1010818), the Faucett Catalyst Fund, Swarovski Optik, Pennington® Wild Bird Food, and friends and members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Merlin Photo ID, powered by Visipedia, was made possible by support from Google and the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute.
We thank these supporters and the entire community of birders around the world that helped build Merlin.
Media credits for Sound ID videos
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck © Luke Seitz
Gambel’s Quail © Luke Seitz
Inca Dove © Luke Seitz
Ruby-throated Hummingbird © Graham Deese
Anna’s Hummingbird © Brian Sullivan
Allen’s Hummingbird © Don DesJardin
Common Gallinule © Luke Seitz
Wilson’s Snipe © Luke Seitz
Spotted Sandpiper © Greg Baker
Least Bittern © Luke Seitz
Great Blue Heron © Daniel Jauvin
Sharp-shinned Hawk © Daniel Jauvin
Western Screech-Owl © Bryan Calk
Great Horned Owl © Tom Johnson
Great Horned Owl © Graham Deese
Barred Owl © Mark Daly
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker © Thomas Kirby
Gila Woodpecker © Luke Seitz
Red-bellied Woodpecker © Graham Deese
Red-bellied Woodpecker © Matthew D. Medler
Downy Woodpecker © Pat Schiller
Nuttall’s Woodpecker © Brian Sullivan
Ladder-backed Woodpecker © Luke Seitz
Pileated Woodpecker © Daniel Jauvin
Northern Flicker © Liam Ragan
Gilded Flicker © Luke Seitz
Olive-sided Flycatcher © Raphaël Nussbaumer
Western Wood-Pewee © Jay McGowan
Willow Flycatcher © Daniel Jauvin
Least Flycatcher © Greg Baker
Gray Flycatcher © Felipe Guerrero
Black Phoebe © Luke Seitz
Black Phoebe © Don DesJardin
Eastern Phoebe © Larry Arbanas
Vermilion Flycatcher © Luke Seitz
Eastern Kingbird © Shawn Cooper
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher © Luke Seitz
White-eyed Vireo © Luke Seitz
Bell’s Vireo © Luke Seitz
Hutton’s Vireo © Luke Seitz
Warbling Vireo © Daniel Jauvin
Red-eyed Vireo © Daniel Jauvin
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay © Jerry Liguori
Fish Crow © Seth Honig
Carolina Chickadee © Marie Chappell
Carolina Chickadee © Luke Seitz
Black-capped Chickadee © Jay McGowan
Mountain Chickadee © Andrew Thomas
Tufted Titmouse © Benjamin Clock
Verdin © Luke Seitz
Barn Swallow © Daniel Jauvin
Cliff Swallow © Paul Fenwick
Cliff Swallow © Daniel Jauvin
Ruby-crowned Kinglet © Seth Honig
White-breasted Nuthatch © Daniel Jauvin
Red-breasted Nuthatch © Daniel Jauvin
Brown Creeper © Dan O’Brien
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher © Luke Seitz
Northern House Wren © Robert Hamilton
Winter Wren © Luke Seitz
Marsh Wren © Daniel Jauvin
Carolina Wren © Daniel Jauvin
Carolina Wren © John Groskopf
Bewick’s Wren © Luke Seitz
Bewick’s Wren © Mike Beggs
Cactus Wren © Luke Seitz
Curve-billed Thrasher © Luke Seitz
Varied Thrush © Liam Ragan
Veery © Daniel Jauvin
Swainson’s Thrush © Melani King
Hermit Thrush © Daniel Jauvin
Hermit Thrush © Luke Seitz
Wood Thrush © Luke Seitz
American Robin © Liam Ragan
Evening Grosbeak © Daniel Jauvin
Purple Finch © Daniel Jauvin
Red Crossbill © Tom Johnson
White-winged Crossbill © Graham Deese
Pine Siskin © Luke Seitz
Snow Bunting © Daniel Jauvin
Clay-colored Sparrow © Daniel Jauvin
Fox Sparrow © Sam Zhang
Dark-eyed Junco © Luke Seitz
White-crowned Sparrow © Graham Deese
Vesper Sparrow © Daniel Jauvin
Song Sparrow © Daniel Jauvin
Lincoln’s Sparrow © Luke Seitz
Canyon Towhee © Luke Seitz
Abert’s Towhee © Luke Seitz
Spotted Towhee © Don DesJardin
Yellow-breasted Chat © Luke Seitz
Western Meadowlark © Graham Deese
Eastern Meadowlark © Luke Seitz
Eastern Meadowlark © Daniel Jauvin
Orchard Oriole © Luke Seitz
Baltimore Oriole © Daniel Jauvin
Red-winged Blackbird © Daniel Jauvin
Red-winged Blackbird © Brian Sullivan
Red-winged Blackbird © Luke Seitz
Ovenbird © Eric Liner
Ovenbird © Asher Higgins
Worm-eating Warbler © Keith Lea
Louisiana Waterthrush © Sam Zhang
Louisiana Waterthrush © Graham Deese
Northern Waterthrush © Daniel Jauvin
Northern Waterthrush © Ryan Sanderson
Northern Waterthrush © Tony Ford
Prothonotary Warbler © Luke Seitz
Prothonotary Warbler © Greg Hertler
Prothonotary Warbler © Daniel Jauvin
Swainson’s Warbler © Luke Seitz
Lucy’s Warbler © Luke Seitz
Hooded Warbler © Luke Seitz
Cape May Warbler © Matthew D. Medler
Cape May Warbler © Thomas Kirby
Northern Parula © Daniel Jauvin
Magnolia Warbler © Ross Gallardy
Blackburnian Warbler © Daniel Jauvin
Yellow Warbler © Daniel Jauvin
Chestnut-sided Warbler © Josep del Hoyo
Chestnut-sided Warbler © Wee Hao Ng
Chestnut-sided Warbler © Daniel Jauvin
Black-throated Blue Warbler © Daniel Jauvin
Palm Warbler © Luke Seitz
Pine Warbler © Daniel Jauvin
Prairie Warbler © Luke Seitz
Black-throated Green Warbler © Daniel Jauvin
Red-faced Warbler © Brian Gibbons
Summer Tanager © Pramod Prabhu
Scarlet Tanager © Daniel Jauvin
Northern Cardinal © Jay McGowan
Pyrrhuloxia © Luke Seitz
Rose-breasted Grosbeak © Daniel Jauvin
Blue Grosbeak © Luke Seitz
Have questions?
Please select our help page from the Settings menu for answers to your questions about using the app or identifying birds, or to leave feedback. You can also learn more on our website.
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Merlin is powered by the Macaulay Library and eBird, and was founded with support from Visipedia, NSF, Birds-in-the Hand LLC, and Pennington Wild Bird Food.
