By Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal
Ian Owens, who oversees the hugely successful Merlin app as head of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, was startled during a walk around the outside the lab one day. Most of the visitors drawn to the park-like campus to see its plentiful birds weren’t looking up at all.
“They were staring down at their phones,” he told us.
The whole point of Merlin Bird ID and eBird app—the twin wunderkind smartphone tools—is to lead people to where the birds are. “The idea is that we should be absorbing nature,” Owens said. “But are we getting in the way of it?”
Merlin has enjoyed the kind of reception the lab could only dream of when it launched the first tool that can name species by their songs in real time and with stunning accuracy. Merlin has been downloaded 33 million times, making it a must-have companion on birding trails and backyards everywhere.
And yet these phone apps can be so compelling-–irresistible even–-that we can’t seem to take our eyes off them. It’s tempting to keep scrolling through the lists of nearby birds that light up as they sing. Or click on alerts of rare species just arriving. Or check out the mounds of background information packed into the apps.
We’ve come up with lots of guidance for how to strike that balance, which will be the topic of our next post on Flying Lessons two weeks from now. But before delving into solutions, it’s worth recognizing that even when we’re outdoors in search of birds, we’re up against the same phone addictions that hound us throughout our daily lives.
Thus the conundrum for those of us ever more reliant on Merlin and eBird: How do we use them enough to enhance our birding without losing sight of the birds themselves — which are, after all, the whole point.
“I don’t think birding is unique to the challenge of how drawn we are to devices overall,” said Jessie Barry, program manager for the Cornell Lab who has spent the past 15 years shaping the Merlin app. “It’s kind of the same thing we all struggle with trying to become less dependent on these, or to back away from them.’’
Why we love the birding apps
Beverly and I are big fans of eBird and Merlin, which have taken off over the same decades we’ve become obsessive birders. Our book on bird conservation tells the fascinating history of how Cornell created these apps. We’ve written a slew of posts for this website and various newspapers, on how the Cornell Lab’s birding apps outpaced its rivals, how eBird and Merlin have reshaped birding and how eBird has elevated the lab’s conservation firepower.
As a rule, eBird doesn’t tend to get in the way of communing with nature. Since eBird keeps a list of the species you’re seeing — and compiles results from all eBirders — we use it mostly before heading out to check what we’re likely to see. We file checklists religiously, sometimes during and often afterwards — the data flow to Cornell that has turned eBird into the most successful citizen science program in the world.
Merlin, with its powers to instantly ID birds from their songs and calls, is far more likely to distract. Merlin hears far more than we can see, which means it guides us toward birds we might not otherwise find. That’s why it’s so easy to become so reliant on the app. We have indeed let our own birding skills–-such as learning songs and memorizing the tiny differences in plumage–atrophy over time. Merlin is the equivalent of having field guides, binoculars and scopes combined in a few buttons just a tap or two away.
Have the apps made us lazy?
This is where some of the criticism comes in: Are we getting lazy about knowing our birdsongs? Are we sometimes satisfied in seeing the birds pop up on Merlin — to the point that we don’t feel the need to tune in on the real thing?
In a video podcast titled “Why Birders Should NOT use Merlin Bird ID,’’ Doug Hitchcox, a Maine Audubon leader who helps eBird double check its data, cited research that artificial intelligence erodes the skills of professionals such as doctors. “I think Merlin is making birders worse at birding,’’ he said in a video podcast that drew thousands of views and 50 mostly supportive comments. “I can’t help but wonder if birders are just not putting in as much effort as they would if the sound was off.’’
When we write about the apps, some of the comments on Flying Lessons and Facebook posts can be brutal. “Sadly the app has zombie birders staring at their phones and not learning songs,’’ Tom Albright wrote on our Facebook page. Added Andrew Egan, another of our Facebook readers: “The app is basically birding for you.’’
Jessie Barry, the Merlin program manager, says those reactions are missing the point. Merlin, in particular, has turned out to be one of the reasons millions of people, many of them younger, novice birders, have been flocking to the pastime since the pandemic prompted a boom that hasn’t slowed down.
“It’s a different way of teaching people,” she said. “It gives them new opportunities to start watching birds. It’s like having a mentor. It’s like having someone to give you tips on where to go, to teach you the ropes.’’
And we hear from plenty of birders who say especially Merlin has made all the difference for them. “I love this app. It’s so incredible,” said Laurie C. Angel on the same Facebook thread as the critics above. “It’s increased my love and appreciation for birds.”
Another reader, Donna Jusczyk, put it more bluntly: “Merlin is one of the best apps ever.”
What’s ahead for these apps
To the extent that Merlin and eBird do get in the way of communing with nature, the lab is thinking about how to keep the focus on watching the real thing. Owens, the lab director, said Cornell is exploring ways of encouraging birders to see the apps as ways to prepare for birding — and also to keep track of and even share what they’re seeing with friends and family.
In the future, Cornell may make suggestions on where you might want to go birding to see species the lab can tell you’re looking for or haven’t already seen. It’s also considering how Merlin might allow you to post your birding achievements. “We might make it a bit more social,” he said.
Both eBird and Merlin serve a rapidly growing, worldwide audience – which means people want all kinds of different things from them. Ultimately, though, Barry said the best thing the lab can do is to make sure people take the time to put down their phones and watch the birds once they’ve found them.
“That still is where the magic is,’’ she said. “The chance to see the bird in full color, in real life and to connect with this other amazing living being on Earth. That is still Merlin’s fundamental goal — to get people to see those birds and fall in love with them.”
That, of course, is what helps the birds the most. The more people get to see them and care about them, the more the conservationist ranks will grow — and in turn support the kind of protections and research that are vital to the health of birds in a changing world.
Watch for our next post, when we’ll share some simple strategies for making the most of the powers of these apps — and still keep our eyes on the birds.
Leave a Reply