Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab

4.9
174K reviews
Content rating
Rated for 3+
10M+
Downloads
Content rating
Rated for 3+
Learn more
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About this app

What's that bird? Ask Merlin—the world’s leading app for birds. Just like magic, Merlin Bird ID will help you solve the mystery.

Merlin Bird ID helps you identify birds you see and hear. Merlin is unlike any other bird app—it's powered by eBird, the world’s largest database of bird sightings, sounds, and photos.

Merlin offers four fun ways to identify birds. Answer a few simple questions, upload a photo, record a singing bird, or explore birds in a region.

Whether you’re curious about a bird you’ve seen once or you’re hoping to identify every bird you can find, the answers are waiting for you with this free app from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

WHY YOU’LL LOVE MERLIN
• Expert ID tips, range maps, photos, and sounds help you learn about the birds you spot and build birding skills.
• Discover a new bird species each day with your own personalized Bird of the Day
• Get customized lists of birds you can find where you live or travel - anywhere in the world!
• Keep track of your sightings—build your personal list of the birds you find

MACHINE LEARNING MAGIC
• Powered by Visipedia, Merlin Sound ID and Photo ID uses machine learning to identify birds in photos and sounds. Merlin learns to recognize bird species based on training sets of millions of photos and sounds collected by birders at eBird.org, archived in the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Merlin delivers the most accurate results thanks to experienced birders, who curate and annotate sightings, photos, and sounds, who are the true magic behind Merlin.

AMAZING CONTENT
• Choose bird packs that contain photos, songs, and calls, and identification help for anywhere in the world, including Mexico, Costa Rica, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia, Korea, Japan, China, and more.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s mission is to interpret and conserve the Earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds and nature. We are able to offer Merlin for free thanks to the generosity of Cornell Lab members, supporters, and citizen-science contributors.
Updated on
Jul 3, 2026

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
No data shared with third parties
Learn more about how developers declare sharing
This app may collect these data types
Personal info, App activity and 2 others
Data is encrypted in transit
You can request that data be deleted

Ratings and reviews

4.9
171K reviews
Kyle Pereira
April 11, 2026
Really love the application. my biggest thing is that sessions no longer automatically save... so when my kids are using the device they tend to forget a lot. Unfortunately I have uninstalled the recent updates and rolled back to an older version that still allows this to happen. I've always been a big believer instead of hard settings for everybody that you just make a toggleable switch that allows people to make the selection for themselves or not. Would love to see this implemented.
16 people found this review helpful
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Justin Mowbray
January 27, 2026
I was really excited to use this app and start cataloging birds, however, the life list is not working properly. I cataloged three birds and they are not showing up on the life list. if this issue's fixed, I'd happily give it five stars. thank you for all the hard work you've done on this app! update: the app does show you your life list but only a day after, which seems odd. I do think another disappointing aspect of the app is that when you take a picture of a bird, it does not save it.
37 people found this review helpful
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dana anderson
February 16, 2026
I don't really like rating apps unless they leave a lasting Mark and that's what this app has done. I've always been interested in birds but never got around to actually learning how to identify them? this app makes it incredibly easy with the ability to identify them just by the noises they make. I've been in many states including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii, and California and no matter where I go, it has been consistent in giving me accurate birds just based on a call.
64 people found this review helpful
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What’s new

What’s new in 3.12:
Observation Deck: Your Merlin home screen now features a swipeable daily feed showcasing Bird of the Day, stunning featured photos, and bite-sized bird tips! Each contains a full-screen view for photos and videos, plus a "Learn more" button to dive deeper into species accounts or related content.
New language support for Kyrgyz and Welsh.
Improvements and new species added to Photo ID