Our friends at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have done it again: given us birders a faster and easier way to participate in the citizen science of the e-Bird mobile app.
The lab announced at the beginning of the month that sound clips of bird songs and calls can be uploaded directly to e-Bird from the Merlin app or other mobile recording apps.
I gave it a try a few days ago while walking through the woods at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. Two Eastern towhees were calling to one another, “twee” to “twee.” At least I think it was two towhees, as the calls were coming from both sides of the trail.
I had turned Merlin on to record once I heard the calls, and I let the recording run for 10 seconds. I saved the file and moved on. But after turning onto another trail, I remembered that mobile uploads were possible.
I’d already logged the towhees in my e-Bird report. With a few clicks I was able to upload the audio file to that report. Voila! It was super easy, and I’m grateful for that.
I’d previously only uploaded a few audio files. I’d email the clips from Merlin to myself, download the file and then post it to an e-Bird report from my computer at home.
Filing from the field was much more fun. I expect this capability will induce more birders to upload audio files, further enriching the Cornell lab’s fantastic database. 🦅