About

Merlin Bird ID

Merlin-flightDesigned 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.

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