Still needs some work – Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab Review

This app shows promise but when using the Bird ID part, is just as likely to give all wrong choices as to give a right choice. The habitat choices are too broad and its not clear at all how the app is using location information. Further issues concern the use of color selections. Even when selecting only one color, such as blue, the user is likely to get birds with no blue at all. When birding in grassland and shrub-steppe, which the user cannot specify, birds typical of forests are also suggested as possibilities. The best part of the app is the Explore Birds section. Many good photos of most species and often many calls and songs to compare to what the user heard. My only beef is the use of subspecies latin names when most bird guides don’t provide that information. Would be nice if the user could compare two easily confused species, such as sharp-shinned hawk and Cooper’s hawk or downy and hairy woodpeckers.
Review by perefalcon on Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab.