Do Bird Photo ID Apps Work? We Test 4 of Them

[@aviangamer6367]

The smart bird ID app works similarly to merlin, it shows the species that it's most likely to be. However, merlin doesn't show a percentage, it just lists the birds in order of likelihood(It's also a much better app).

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Agreed.

[@frankwestphal4525]

Are we not going to talk about "Mallard, a species of geese"? 2:31

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Good catch 😂 didn’t even notice that in the moment.

[@GratefulDeb270]

Ty for closed captions! Great videos!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You’re welcome! We try to add them when it gets too windy :)

[@thigmotrope]

That technique at the end seems useful. I've had good experience with birdnet audio identification. That has opened up a whole world for me as a novice+ birder

[@BadgerlandBirding]

We’d definitely like to do a similar test with the audio apps soon. Glad to hear you’ve found Birdnet useful!

[@gatorhawk]

I've always wanted to know this, but I've never had the time to do it. Thanks for sharing!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@PeregrineBF]

I've got a Celestron spotting scope (M2 80ED) and one of their NeXYZ phone adapters (and a 3D-printed ring to get the adapter to fit better on the scope). It makes Merlin work a LOT better, since it allows halfway-decent shots. A proper camera is better, of course, but a spotting scope and altazimuth tripod are useful enough to have anyway when birding, and you've probably got a phone. And if you have a camera you can get a T-Ring adapter to whatever your camera lens mount is and take quite good shots from a decent distance without spending ridiculous amounts of money. Manual focus and fixed aperture, of course, but still pretty nice.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Yeah it’s definitely (mostly) about the photo quality 👍

[@tvalkyrie]

Good reviews, I'm sticking to my books. I appreciate your hard work! 💌👱‍♀️

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Fair enough! Thanks for watching!

[@Chris.Bentley.Wildlife]

Good experiment!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Thanks!

[@transamgal9]

I knew you boys were part bird...lol

[@BadgerlandBirding]

🤗

[@YvonneSebastian1980]

I use Merlin.. and really like it.. but I mostly use my Nikon.. hardly ever use my cell unless I’m very close.. yea Merlin gives you choices to compare.. which I like also.. good test guys!.. happy birding ☮️

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Thanks! Happy birding to you, too! :)

[@markparker8274]

Fun Video. I really enjoy Merlin. Also, Merlin just added a "Sound" feature. The sound feature is incredible. You just hit record and it uses your phone's mic to make bird suggestions. It's correct most of the time. Even on really quick chirps coming from various sparrows. The other day , Nov 26th, I heard a chirping of a sparrow like bird at my local wetland. Wasn't sure what it was. It quickly identified it as a swamp sparrow which is not as typical for West Michigan at this time of year. After a minute, I saw and took a picture that definitively ID the swamp sparrow.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Yeah I’d like to do a review of the call feature soon!

[@Oltoir]

I haven't used Seek in a while, but it used to be a huge battery hog. I still use Merlin in the field, but in the way you do at the end, taking a picture of the back of my dslr so I can zoom in decently. It's often pretty accurate, or at least it can help me narrow the bird down when I have no idea! The AI has gotten considerably better the past year or so, I'd say. I assume it has to do with the amount of new input (pictures/users). Thanks for the vid, keep up the great work guys!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching. I definitely think the Apps are promising and will only improve in the future.

[@cobythebirdnerd3790]

I deleted Smart Bird ID because it wouldn’t identify a chickadee. It was very close up too. I believe it said it was a Canada Jay or Downy Woodpecker. I will have to try the Seek app. Thanks!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Yeah Smart Bird is a mess 😂 Seek was pretty enjoyable, especially because it will attempt to ID things other than birds.

[@Illinoisoutdoorsvids]

I did the exact same thing! I recommend Merlin.

[@rogerd9150]

Haha... I am just starting this hobby. Guess I’ll need to invest in a good digital SLR and telephoto lens. But what about the new iPhone 12 telephoto feature? Do you think that it will have the capability to take good clear close-ups of birds in the field?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Haven't tried any of the new iPhones yet. I still have a 6s. You definitely don't need a great camera to enjoy birding though. I know a lot of people who just use binoculars and printed ID guides. I think as technological advances occur, the phones will be able to zoom better and take more clear photos.

[@rogerd9150]

@@BadgerlandBirding Thanks guys! I appreciate it. Amazon just delivered me a pair of Nikon 10-22x50 binoculars. My friend had this model and suggested it. Looking forward to trying it. I just set up a bird bath in the back yard and am seeing Blue Jays, Robins and a couple other birds I don’t recognize.

[@johnhartley3596]

I’m surprised with capability of Merlin, considered who developed it.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

It did seem fairly reliable with good photos. Felt bad giving it some of the ones we did 😂

[@aurora571000]

Fun to see your interaction with your brother

[@carolshannon6449]

Thanks for demo-ing these for us.

[@frankwestphal4525]

Imo Merlin is at its best when you simply use the start Id path. I feel like it helped me focus on the features because I needed to describe the bird rather than just taking a picture and hoping it figures something out for me.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That’s fair 👍

[@naturewithgabe]

Smart Bird ID 😬 gotta pick up your game haha

[@BadgerlandBirding]

IKR?! 😂

[@barbaracole709]

Sometimes I just do a Google image search on the photo on my phone. It’s not that accurate, either, but it can narrow it down and you can usually visually identify the correct image that matches your picture. I also use this for plants and other animals. It’s at least an app that most people already have and doesn’t cost anything. I tried the Smart Bird ID too and also found it to be laughable.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Interesting! Yeah Smart Bird ID was rough, haha.

[@craigsrck4382]

Theres nothing more awesome in beginner birding than flipping through field guides getting stuff wrong, being confused and identifying common birds as super rare migrants,...But it was a good foundation ....if it was easy as swiping down an app i dont think it would have that sherlock holmes feel to it.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That’s fair!

[@kevinmoore8780]

I use Merlin although now mainly for the sound data. Merlin is only as good as your camera. It's one of the reasons I spent the money to get the new Samsung so that I had the 100 optical zoom. Merlin does fairly well with that. One thing that I would love would be for Merlin to be used on the computer. That way you could easily pull up digital files and have it try to ID them.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

That would be interesting!

[@GratefulDeb270]

I take a picture with my camera, then when I get home I ask Merlin ID what the bird in my photo is. I hope it’s right b/c i put it in ebird. 🌝

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Definitely worked better with the camera photos for small birds 👍

[@jimmyv4351]

I use Merlin to take a picture of birds I've photographed off the back of the camera and feel it works well. I've also used Google Lens which works well if you have cell or WiFi connection.

[@Johnnywhipple-y1z]

Merlin bird id is very reliable and i frequently use it. It is probably better than all the other ones.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

It’s definitely gotten better than when we filmed this. We did an updated review of the sound and photo ID features since then.

[@kateclark7250]

It seems like a lot of effort for a hit or miss answer.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

It definitely can be!

[@bearybirding]

I actually like Google Lens the best because you can click the button right in Google Photos.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Interesting! Haven’t tried that yet.

[@bearybirding]

@@BadgerlandBirding It's statistically probably less accurate, but when it's wrong, it's usually really wrong, maybe because you can't put in a location.

[@sylviamaulding2237]

I use Merlin to ID a bird from a camera photo. It seems good.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

It can be!

[@_ethanol_]

Before I started birding I used seek because it also identifies other species like plants, reptiles, mammals, and others but I think that Merlin is the best for birding when I use it.

[@manuroblak3893]

I like Merlin the best!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

I like that Merlin added the call ID features too.

[@manuroblak3893]

@@BadgerlandBirding same. The Audio feature is a life saver.

[@thepopweasel7287]

nice

[@BadgerlandBirding]

thanks

[@mr1pearl]

I don't know about those apps so I'll just shoot you the photo . What do you guys charge ? 😆

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Unless we get ridiculously inundated with requests we’re happy to help with IDs free of charge 👍

[@Illinoisoutdoorsvids]

I used to use smart bird Id. Terrible. I use Merlin now, much better.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Haha I’ve been using Merlin more lately and I like the changes they made to it. It’s really user friendly now.