Merlin names the bird. Nature By Name helps you remember it.
Merlin is the Cornell Lab’s free bird identification app. Let it listen or show it a photo, and it tells you the species. It is excellent, and millions of birders rely on it.
It answers for you. That is the point, and it is also why you can hear the same song next week and still open the app.
Nature By Name is for afterwards. Bring in the birds Merlin has named for you, then practise them with photos and recordings until you know them without help.
Merlin: an answer right now
You hear a song, let Merlin listen, and it says Wood Thrush. Tomorrow you hear it again and open Merlin again. Useful, but the answer stays in the app.
Nature By Name: an answer you keep
You practise the birds near you from photos and recordings. Cooper’s Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk keep coming back until you can tell them apart. A month later you know the tail shape before the phone is out.
Side by side
| Merlin | Nature By Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Identify a bird from a photo or sound | Learn to name species yourself |
| Wildlife covered | Birds | Birds, plants, insects, fungi, mammals and more |
| Sound | Live sound identification | Practice cards with recordings, credited to each recordist |
| Your sightings | Saved to your eBird account | Import your eBird data, Merlin sightings included |
| Practice and review | None | Scheduled recall with FSRS. Say the name aloud and Study checks it |
Using them together
Use Merlin in the field. Use Nature By Name at home, a few minutes at a time.
Merlin saves sightings to eBird, so your eBird download already includes them. Import it here and every bird Merlin named for you is ready to practise.
The Cornell Lab draws the same line: Merlin is for in-the-moment identification, and they built a separate tool, BirdWise, for learning.
Reach for Merlin when
- You need to identify a bird right now
- You want live sound identification
- You want an offline field app
Reach for Nature By Name when
- You want to recognise birds without the phone
- You want to be told when you named the lookalike
- You want to learn more than birds
- You want practice scheduled for you
- You want to learn the birds of a place before you visit
What people ask for
“There is a difference between using a tool to identify a specific bird, and learning what to listen for.”
Reddit r/birding. Read the post
“I use Merlin to help identify as I come across them. I don’t really have any base of knowledge about birds. Is there any content you recommend so I can learn more in a fun and engaging way?”
Reddit r/birding. Read the post
Keep Merlin for the field. Learn the birds here.
Other comparisons: iNaturalist · Anki · eBird · Seek · BirdWise · Field guides