Merlin Bird ID By Cornell Lab Negative Reviews

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab app received 21 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab? Can you share your negative thoughts about merlin bird id by cornell lab?

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab for Negative User Reviews

✓ Great App in partsWorks fine if it can identify your bird. If you know the bird but the app can’t find it then you have no way of adding it to your life list. Similarly if you add one by mistake you can’t remove it. Also crashes a lot when generating bird list.Oz1313Version: 3.0

✓ Probably good if you’re in North AmericaThis app is produced by Cornell Labs. I presume that’s connected with Cornell University, in the USA. In some ways it’s mighty impressive, but its great weakness is its tendency to identify European birds as American birds. A secondary weakness is making no allowance for what we call our own birds. “Grey” is invariably spelt “gray” (a nuisance when looking for a bird), goosander are called common merganser, our regular swallows (which gave all the other swallow species their name) are called “barn swallow,” and so on, ad nauseam. It wouldn’t be beyond the wit of mortal man to acknowledge English spellings and bird names, even as an equivalent to subtitles. A third weakness is its rather sketchy descriptions of the species. Whether its creators assume you can look at the pictures and work things out from there, or listen to the recordings, I know not, but the details are rather poor. This could be a great app. As it is, it’s merely useful, mostly for its pictures. [later edit] The app is growing on me as I get used to it. I’ve found it very useful on sound ID, where I’ve yet to spot it making a” false note.”.Jeremiah 3134Version: 2.1.8

✓ Magical app, but still needs one CRITICAL featureThis app is extremely easy to use and accurate for identifying birds based on both sighting characteristics and photos. The photo identification feature nearly aligns with Arthur C Clarke’s third law, that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and hence the app name of Merlin is extremely appropriate. HOWEVER, it does not allow you save your bird history, DESPITE the app explicitly stating that your sighting “response has been recorded to improve Merlin’s accuracy.” Such an oversight is nearly inexcusable, as it requires you to save your own screenshots or enter the info in a separate document or in eBird (for which both the interface and ease-of-use are greatly inferior to and clumsier than those of Merlin). I am practically begging the developers to add a bird history/tracking function to this app ASAP (as they have claimed to have been working on for at least the last six months), as I would be more than willing to pay for such functionality and the app would no doubt merit the full five out five stars..Jb_birdVersion: 1.3.8

✓ Fails on me frequently, otherwise would be greatI’m shocked this app still has 5 stars overall. I’ve used Merlin Bird ID for years and it really simplified the identification process. When I first started using it there was only a limited database and it was still being expanded so I was very forgiving when I bumped into its limitations. At this point though, I just get annoyed and mad that I can’t ID the birds I’m spotting. The app doesn’t let you ID birds it doesn’t believe are in your area, and it also doesn’t let you manually ID birds by name in the event the search doesn’t bring up your bird. For example, in Southern California I had a Red Shouldered Hawk in my neighborhood for several weeks. I thought it was very strange because they’re not normally in the area and I double, triple and quadruple checked the bird with various apps and field references listening to his call and markings to make sure it wasn’t the standard Red-Tailed Hawk. I wanted to ID the bird in Merlin to help the database and other birders but the app wouldn’t let me. Once again, this time in Maine, I’m staring at an Indigo Bunting (rare) eating at a feeder. Even with the regional packs downloaded Merlin won’t let me ID the bird. Very disappointing..JackthezombieVersion: 1.6.1

✓ Thankful for the appI’m thankful to have this app, but as mentioned in previous reviews it drains the battery SO FAST on my iPhone 14 pro. Also, I have many issues with the app taking a long time to identify a bird, I have missed many birds due to this reason. Overall a great concept but has a few bugs that need fixing..J-v-m-12Version: 3.0.1

✓ Would be great, but……I cannot use it! Tried it for 5 days, superb! Am in the Iberian peninsula and it identified birds accurately. Impressed. Now the five days have lapsed, I cannot use it, and I want to purchase it, but am unable. Whenever I open the app it automatically goes to a “have sent you an email “ screen which IS LOCKED, in order to continue using the app. Twenty tries later, changed email three times to reconfirm, and no emails, nothing, not even junked. Rubbish until this is sorted out, hence one star. BTW, tried to report the problem only to be told I can’t because it’s a free app! So, this is the only way I could communicate..SandhurstbarnVersion: 3.0.1

✓ Fantastic UK version. Poor Australian version.My parents put me onto this app when visiting the UK recently. The sound ID was incredible and picked up many birds in short time. 5/5. On returning to Brisbane I installed the local bird data pack. It’s abysmal and cannot identify even the most common birds. 1/5..Timjo9Version: 2.1.8

✓ Great app! But...I have really enjoyed using this app even though I was an experienced birdwatcher before I downloaded this app. It asks very simple questions as to size, color, activity, etc. that make it rather easy to identify many of the birds that are commonly found in my location. It think it would be great for beginning birders to use this app to familiarize themselves quickly with the great variety of birds commonly found on a regular basis in a location. However, its very simplicity makes it less desirable for more experienced birders who may be looking either to identify by group, color gradations, and sex, or to expand their knowledge with uncommon birds or those who may be migrating through at certain times. I find myself wishing I could add such as a category of bird, length of tail, or kind of beak, wing bars, eye rings, etc. to quickly add more specifics. I should think that there should be a way to quickly add to this app what a birder already knows, in order to make identification much smoother and quicker..GaetanoschildVersion: 2.1.2

✓ Fun but inaccurateI wish there were an option to record sightings of birds without going through the whole ID process. I just saw a snow bunting - it’s unusual for this area, but not impossible. When I tried to go through the ID process to record it, nothing came up. I tried so many variations of size and colour and got no matching birds. I see it’s in the database, but there’s no option to click on the bird in the database and say “I saw this”. I even tried adjusting the location to one where I know this bird should be present and it still didn’t come up as a suggestion. This has also happened several times with other birds - I know what it is, but it doesn’t show up as an option when I go through the step by step ID. The photo ID option is cool if you can get a decent enough photo and the sound ID is very fun because I’m terrible at remembering bird calls..ThefishiologistVersion: 3.0.2

✓ Eastern Screech OwlSound Identification does not work for this owl in my area..ChipperrieVersion: 3.0.1

✓ Doesn’t work for meMy daughter has this app and it works great so I thought I would get it also. Unfortunately after a few times I started to receive messages saying my 5 days were up and check my email, nothing. Can you offer any suggestions to resolve this. Thanks.Lw1243Version: 3.0.1

✓ Take it with a grain of saltOverall great app. Being able to see your life list with actual birds is incredible! However, there are some fatal flaws. For one, the filters for the likelihood of species is bar chart correlated and not expert review, so it often displays strange and outright incorrect results. Secondly, and more importantly, is that it’s creating new birders that rely too heavily on the sound and photo ID features. The old method of hearing a bird and then finding it enough times until you recognize it just by ear has become obsolete. This is ok if Merlin was more accurate than a typical birder but it absolutely is not. I’ve tested merlin in mountain terrain and it has gotten about 90% correct species… and then it said water rail… on a glacier… in Montana. Additionally, it is terrible at picking up more distant or obscure calls. Thus it either doesn’t give you a result or a flawed one. So take all results with an incredibly large grain of salt. I tend to shoo people away from this feature even if that comes at the cost of a few less lifers on their end. For me, it’s the quality of scientific data that trumps all..Rajan_RaoVersion: 2.1.5

✓ Sound Id is great, prompts for email are badI’ll start with what I love. The Sound ID is fantastic!! Through that feature alone I’ve ID’d many birds in my yard I didn’t know I had. It highlights the bird, plus back the sound it heard to ID it, and saves the recordings to listen back to which helps me learn the sounds. Now the part I don’t like is very annoying. I’ve been using this app for over a year and it keeps telling me my free trial has expired and I need to verify my email. I’ve done that, and I can even log onto my online Merlin account. But for some reason the app keeps popping up with this. I have figured out a couple work arounds but they don’t always work. First, I click the feature I want (sound ID) as soon as the app opens. If I wait even 3 seconds it won’t work. Second is if it pops up with the prompt I close the app and restart it. That is less likely to work but has worked about half the time. I would like to see a fix for this issue in an update. Love the features but stinks if you can’t even get to them for the prompt..DE in NCVersion: 2.1.8

✓ Great App - Public Chat/Sightings log could be coolLove this app. A cool upgrade would be a community section where the picture is shared and can add commentary!.Hehateme52Version: 3.0.3

✓ Doesn’t work in Australia (VIC Metropolitan)It basically doesn’t work in Australia. I’ve taken it to areas filled with many many bird species and the only bird it’s been able to identify for me is the common myna which is invasive. I don’t think they should be offering maps of areas that are as incomplete as this this. It couldn’t even identify a magpie or currawong..JarkosVersion: 3.0

✓ Fun but frustratingThis app can be great fun, but frustrating at times. You will often see birds that the app won’t have listed. So, you are unable to include them in your counts. It’s very frustrating, and I’m at a loss as to why a bird will appear for a few days, disappear, re-appear, etc. Migration is an obvious factor, but some birds can be left in the list year round. Again, it’s frustrating. Another very frustrating issue is the functionality of the new app. It almost seems that they are pushing people to use the sound ID rather than the step-by-step option. This option is now extremely cumbersome. You can only identify one bird at a time, so if you spot 8 Cardinals (for instance) you can only report 1 sighting. To report all 8 you would need to do so 8 different times. Additionally, after you’ve identified one species, if you want to report another, the app forces you to get out of it and start all over again, or hit the back button continuously to get to the start. The older version of Merlin didn’t have this problem, which is very cumbersome, time consuming, frustrating and should be easily fixed..HerdmanstonVersion: 3.0.3

✓ Great butSound ID is a game changer but why the heck can we not add from the Explore section. Pleasepleaseplease change this.OrangeOmaVersion: 3.0.2

✓ I love this app. But it seems to be bugging?I love this app, I’ve spent hours listening and identifying local birds. And being excited by new ones popping up, etc! However; You have to verify with an a email address, which Is fine. But I’ve never received the email. I’ve attempted multiple times, checked all folders. Deleted the app and reinstalled, even tried an entirely different email address. This started the five days again, just to face the same issue again ☹️. Until you verify, you can’t use the app. Which is really disappointing. Please can you look into this? I miss identifying birds. 😢.Becca.JCVersion: 2.1.8

✓ DisappointedI have several international bird apps on my iPhone/iPad and this one is disappointing It did not have several birds which we saw and identified by others means. We had apps for da and generally southern USA and northern Mexico. The ID from information and photos is a great idea but strangely useless..AvcxdrtVersion: 1.6

✓ Does not work in Australia. Maybe it once didHave tried this app for two weeks now. Nothing gets identified. Have loaded down the Australia packs. Nothing. My friend has also tried and nothing is identified. One can see the recording but zero identification..Usless systemVersion: 2.1.2

✓ Nothing but issuesWorked well for a couple of months and now whenever I open it I get an email saying my five day grace period is over and I need to confirm via an email they’re sending me. Except it’s never received, no where, junk ir anywhere else. Added Cornell email to my contact list, no difference. Uninstalled and reinstalled, works for a couple of times, then we’re back to a five day grace period notification..Ssvrtlana1959Version: 2.1.2

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab.