The CLO had brought us from early recordings of birds, through autonomous recording devices of overflying chips and peeps to owling while sleeping. Truly it's a brave new world.
On Fri, Jul 9, 2021, 3:48 PM Gary Kohlenberg <jg...@cornell.edu> wrote: > Some are finding the new Merlin sound ID app has some deficiencies with > difficult species, like the trillers. For myself, I have been blown away by > the fun and accuracy of such a new application. I wouldn’t base a heard > only rare bird report totally on this app yet, but it sure will be handy to > add confidence to a sighting. It will always be better to eBird sightings, > with notes / photo / audio attached, for the tough ones. > > The times I have used Merlin I was surprised by the ability of the app to > pick out background songs that I wasn’t even aware of at the time. I just > assumed it would only ID the loudest song while ignoring the rest. I’m sure > as time goes on the learning logic will make it more accurate as the photo > application has become. I would guess that people with specific frequency > hearing loss will find it useful for some species that may not sound like > they used too. > I’m sure people can fool Merlin with a good song imitation so I wonder > about mimic species. If a mockingbird is singing a N. Cardinal song will it > ID the cardinal and should we count it. ;) > > One benefit that may be realized is an increased confidence with some > birders on reporting rarer species. As Dave noted some rare bird reports > have little or no associate documentation to support the sighting, but > there are also sightings or "heard only" rare species that are reported as > more common species because of lack of confidence or familiarity. I have > seen this many times and have encouraged birders to submit sightings with > notes to aid review. This may be more prevalent than people think. We > probably have all seen this with numbers. Very large species counts require > confirmation so people reduce the count to a number that doesn’t reach the > trigger. > > All these new tools should really help the citizen science eBird database > become more useful. Amateur birders as observers will never be perfect, but > on a huge data set it doesn’t really matter that a few sightings are > inaccurate as they are overwhelmed; 100% is a target. > It’ll be fun to hear about more weird sound ID’s. as people find every > quirk. It won’t be long we can just leave our phones outside on “record” > and and drink coffee while the bird list in generated. > > Gary > > > > > > On Jul 9, 2021, at 3:28 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@me.com> wrote: > > Hi all, > I think the Library of Natural Sound used to ask, when archiving audio, > whether the bird was seen to make the call. Now, when people include audio > with eBird submissions, that question is not asked, and sometimes people > are clearly guessing, even against the advice of apps intended to help them > ID the calls. I recently checked Macaulay trying to learn more about > Black-billed Cuckoo calls. Because at many places and times the species is > not rare, I think the recordings go directly from eBird to Macaulay without > any review. Before I found any audio recordings which were verified by > sight, I found 2 examples of people labeling Chipmunk calls as cuckoos and > 1 Yellow-billed labeled as Black-billed. My confidence in Macaulay as a > source of information was shaken. > > Recently an enthusiastic young collector of rare bird reports claimed on > the basis of hearing alone that there were 2 Worm-eating Warblers singing > at a new location in Tompkins County, a county where the species is always > rare yet is regularly found in one location where it’s a lot of trouble to > climb a steep slope. Maybe that person is competent to make that judgement. > Maybe there are plenty of birders who can. I know I can’t, and clearly > Merlin can’t. I sure would appreciate people noting in their eBird reports > whether their audio contributions are of birds they also identified by > sight while the bird was recorded making the noise, or whether the bird was > not seen. > > - - Dave Nutter > > On Jul 9, 2021, at 2:11 PM, Linda Orkin <wingmagi...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Thanks Jay and Alicia. I didn’t see first reply though I was looking for > it. Appreciate it. > I am going to try the uploading to eBird. I didn’t know you could do that > It’s interesting looking at the spectrogram and comparing between the > trillers too. Although obviously not foolproof it can help you hear the > notes in a slightly different way. > > Linda > > On Jul 9, 2021, at 1:42 PM, Alicia <t...@ottcmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Linda, > > Jay replied a couple days ago - forwarded below. > > Best - > > Alicia > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Possible Worm-eating Warblers in Lansing NY > Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2021 12:02:10 -0400 > From: Jay McGowan <jw...@cornell.edu> <jw...@cornell.edu> > Reply-To: Jay McGowan <jw...@cornell.edu> <jw...@cornell.edu> > To: Linda Orkin <wingmagi...@gmail.com> <wingmagi...@gmail.com> > CC: Barbara Bauer Sadovnic <bsadov...@htva.net> <bsadov...@htva.net>, > KitKat PonyBird <kitkatponyb...@gmail.com> <kitkatponyb...@gmail.com>, > Cayugabirds-L <Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu> <Cayugabirds-L@cornell.edu> > > Hi Linda, > Yes, clicking that will give us a record of it, but it won't be a lot to > go on otherwise. One thing that will help long-term would be to make a > recording of the bird, then upload it to an eBird checklist (doing some > light editing following our best practices > <https://support.ebird.org/en/support/solutions/articles/48001064341-audio-preparation-and-upload-guidelines> > whenever possible). This won't have any immediate effect on the model of > course, but longer term it will provide us with more diverse examples to > train on. > > Jay > > On Wed, Jul 7, 2021 at 11:34 AM Linda Orkin <wingmagi...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Jay I wonder if you can say what we should do if we know song ID is >> incorrect. I got worm eating warbler for chipping sparrow down by vas’s >> park rink today and I clicked no match. Is that the best way to tri and >> alert Merlin to an incorrect choice? >> >> Linda Orkin >> >> On Jul 6, 2021, at 10:32 AM, Jay McGowan <jw...@cornell.edu> wrote: >> >> >> This is a good reminder that the new Sound ID function in Merlin is a >> great way to cue into new sounds and learn to ID birds, but should never be >> taken as the final word on an identification. In this case, trilling >> species like Worm-eating Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, and >> even Pine Warbler can be challenging for even experienced birders to >> identify with confidence, and the sound ID model has trouble being sure as >> well. Juncos in particular pose a challenge, with their extreme variation >> between individuals. So certainly, if you're in the right habitat, look a >> little harder for a bird flagged as a possible Worm-eating, but in the >> cases you describe, these were almost certainly Chipping Sparrows. >> >> P.S. I'd be happy to take a listen to a recording if you want to send it >> privately. >> >> Jay >> >> On Sun, Jul 4, 2021 at 6:38 PM Barbara Bauer Sadovnic <bsadov...@htva.net> >> wrote: >> >>> The same thing happened to me today, also while eating breakfast on my >>> porch, in Enfield! I also tried BirdNET, and got the same result, although >>> that might have been a “wild guess.” When I went looking for it I thought I >>> saw a chipping sparrow, but couldn’t get a good look. >>> >>> Later in the day the bird (I think the same bird) was closer, and was >>> identified as a chipping sparrow. But I couldn’t find it. >>> >>> Just now I heard it again, and again Merlin thought “worm-eating >>> warbler.” When I got closer Merlin changed his mind to chipping sparrow, >>> and when I finally got a good look, I did see chipping sparrow, singing. >>> >>> I am really enjoying the new Merlin. >>> >>> On Jul 4, 2021, at 1:15 PM, KitKat PonyBird <kitkatponyb...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>> >>> While enjoying breakfast on my back porch today, I heard an >>> unfamiliar bird. The new Sound ID on the Merlin app came up with >>> Worm-eating Warbler. >>> >>> Merlin says this bird is rare for this area. I heard at least three of >>> the same song from different locations at nearly the same time. Still >>> hearing them around. >>> >>> I did a couple of recordings, but don't know (yet) how to share them. >>> It's definitely different from the chipping sparrows I usually hear. >>> >>> Wish I'd been able to get a visual. >>> >>> Happy Birding >>> -- >>> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* >>> Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> >>> Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> >>> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave >>> <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >>> *Archives:* >>> The Mail Archive >>> <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> >>> Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> >>> BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> >>> *Please submit your observations to eBird >>> <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* >>> -- >>> >>> -- >>> *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* >>> Welcome and Basics 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