[Tweeters] Magic man fowls it up again

[Preston Mui via Tweeters]

Here's the Cornell Lab's
<https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/2021/06/22/behind-the-scenes-of-sound-id-in-merlin/>
article on how they built Merlin bird ID. They didn't accept recordings
willy-nilly, they had a team of experts go through and manually tag hours
of audio recordings.

Preston Mui
prestonmui at gmail.com
http://prestonmui.github.io/
(425) 223-8450


On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 4:26 PM ck park via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> i'm surprised merlin's database is populated by junk data.  did they

> accept any/all recordings just to get something to market, or have they at

> least vetted the audio with experts in bird calls / songs?  one would

> think, where confusing audio is possible, it would take nothing for them to

> post that you MIGHT be hearing X, Y, or Z, depending, and to verify

> visually if possible...

>

> On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 3:19 PM PENNY & DAVID KOYAMA via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

>> Ha, ha.  I still laugh about the time Merlin "recorded" a Yellowhammer

>> (Eurpean bird) when birding in New Mexico, and another time last spring

>> when Barb Webster and  I were at Stillwater near Carnation, WA and Merlin

>> claimed American Robin rather than the Bullock's Oriole we  watched

>> calling.

>>

>> I do admire your persistence as a Merlin detective!

>> Penny Koyama, Bothell

>>

>> On 04/03/2024 10:12 AM PDT Kevin Lucas via Tweeters <

>> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>>

>>

>> Over the winter Merlin has repeatedly mistaken vocalizations by starlings

>> as being from Western Wood-Pewees. There are several places where a

>> starling does a GREAT imitation, e.g. Eschbach Nature Area, the Eagle Path

>> at the southern end of the Yakima Greenway Path in Union Gap, and at two

>> places where we lived. At the Eagle Path and Eschbach, when I've read

>> out-of-season Western Wood-Pewee heard-only reports, I've thought it likely

>> to be one of the talented Starlings I'd heard there.

>>

>> In our back yard last week Merlin was fooled that a starling was a robin.

>> I was watching and listening to the starling atop the utility pole calling

>> like a robin. It sounded good enough I decided to give Merlin a go. Merlin

>> failed, said American Robin. Most times with Starlings Merlin correctly

>> indicates Starling.

>>

>> During a winter raptor survey this year in the White Swan area I heard an

>> unusual vocalization. I was next to running water, so I could not hear all

>> of the quality of the song. I tried Merlin. It said Wood Thrush. I didn't

>> know what Wood Thrushes sounded like. Once home, I listened to Wood Thrush

>> vocalizations. It had not been a Wood Thrush. I worked on the Merlin

>> recorded audio using Audacity -- noise reduction, frequency notch filters,

>> and amplification. I then played back the cleaned-up audio on my computer,

>> and used Merlin on my phone to try again. This time Merlin nailed it --

>> Song Sparrow.

>>

>> Yesterday I went to one of my favorite spots to look for Greater

>> White-fronted Geese. About 10 minutes after I arrived I heard a flock of

>> them heading my way. As they got closer I took some photos. Some landed

>> with the Cackling and Canada Geese, others flew over. I wondered whether

>> Merlin was good at distinguishing between Cackling and Canada Geese, but

>> wouldn't be able to test since they were mixed together there. When I heard

>> some more Greater White-fronted Geese calling as they flew toward me, I

>> pulled out my phone and gave the magic man a go. They flew low, calling,

>> right over me. Merlin fowled it up, identifying them as Cackling Geese.

>>

>> Perhaps Merlin can distinguish between Cackling and Canada Geese, but I'd

>> trust him even less after his latest foul up with fowl up.

>>

>> I'm looking forward to hearing my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year

>> while I'm watching it. I'm not annoyed by Merlin. I'm amazed, and sometimes

>> I find him incredible.

>>

>> Good Birding,

>> https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/

>> Kevin Lucas

>> Yakima County, WA

>>

>> *Qui tacet consentire videtur*

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