Are you having issues? Select the issue you are having below and provide feedback to Merlin Bird ID.
- Limited database
- Doesn't let you ID birds it doesn't believe are in your area
- Doesn't let you manually ID birds by name in the event the search doesn't bring up your bird
- Doesn't allow you save your bird history
- No bird history/tracking function
App Filter won’t switch from “All installed birds” to “Likely birds.” It just cycles.
I’ve enjoyed using Merlin for years and suddenly it stopped finding matches, descriptions, sound or photos. Could I have a setting wrong?
Just not recognising birds now. Do not know what is wrong and very slow. Put a picture of sanderling on a good clear picture but saying it is a gannet or a curlew. Used to be good but no idea what is going on now.
Submissions are failing : it says it's Internet issues but my internet is all fine. Rebooting did not work.
No display of species in “Explore”. iPhone 15 pro.
Today a problem occurred that has occurred in the past, but not to such a degree as today. After I had used the "Sound ID" feature a few times, the app froze. The green circular "hourglass" would swirl around and around for five, ten, fifteen minutes. I tried the following ways to get that to stop: closing the app, tapping on other features of the app (such as "Explore" and "Settings"); waiting. The only thing that worked was restarting the phone, which is an Android phone. After each restart, the app would give me one and only one chance to ID a bird vocalization; then, once I pressed the red "stop recording" button, the app would freeze again.
The app IDs the birds and seems to record them BUT I am unable to retrieve the recorded ones.
Recording 15 minutes this morning, saw all the birds identified, went to save recording, received the following error: "There was an error loading the recording." Lost a new lifer. Extremely bummed.
I inadvertently recorded 1 hour of birds in a single recording. As I was deleting several old recordings to free up space on my Android phone, I cannot delete this very long recording using the methods suggested. Can you help? Thank you.
I acquired a new Samsung phone and Verizon transferred my old LG phone's apps. However, the 635 sound recordings which did transfer to the new phone no longer appear in Merlin. It appears that the android app data file linking the recordings did not transfer to the new phone. How can I restore to the previous state where the bird ids are associated with the recordings?
When selecting my recordings, there is a green bar that comes up at the top with an X that deselects recordings. If I select that it deselects the recordings. It won't allow me to delete the recordings. This is not the way it worked before. Is there some setting that changed?
Merlin is no longer playing the bird songs when I want to hear a certain bird's song. What do I do? Iphone 10 is my device.
Since purchasing a iPhone 15 my Merlin app doesn’t show the bird id photos. Please advise- thanks
Doesn’t play records
it keeps telling me my password is incorrect even though i'm using the password i saved to my password manager last time i used the app. i tried to reset my password and the email isn't coming through.
The app recorded my birds but now it will not let me in to see my bird list. It keeps going round and round but will not open. Android pixel 7.
Reporting lots of birds names but no pictures added all of Mexico origin I live in the Uk and it will not open up
It is stuck on updating bird list. Tried uninstalling but it is still stuck
Hi - I get a black bar saying uploading species list but nothing happens! Tried on iphone and ipad with same result. Tried deleting app and reinstalling and same result.
I get a message that my five-day grace period is over, and I have to go to email to confirm. I have asked that the message to confirm be re-sent several times, and I get no message that allows me to confirm my email address: janemullerpeterson@redacted.
I suddenly can't save to my life list. When I hit save, it says "submission failed." And why do I all of a sudden HAVE to fill in "yard" or "tree" or whatever? I don't like having to do that. Getting ready to go with another bird app.
Made recording, but left it running for about 2.5 hours by mistake. Trying to delete file but it won't load so I can dump it. Suggestions?
I've been trying for DAYS to install the bird pack for southern Bolivia (on e of the smalller ones for S america!) and it keeps saying downloading. My user data is 2.11 GB. I don't need the data i've collected when ID'ing birds... so is that an OK thing to delete? clear? Or is User Data the Bird Packs? The cache is only 170 MB, smaller than any of the bird packs I have installed (Chile, Argentina and Antarctica only). Maybe that's what I can clear out? HELP! Please.
My app is not able to record. When I look for the app in the list of apps that have requested access to the iPhone mic, it is not listed.
I am unable to add to my life list through e-bird, and I always get a message that there was an error loading my life list when I click on it from the Merlin app. I can see a list of birds as long as my screen, but I cannot scroll down.
I love the bird sound id!!! I used to call the birds to me after ID...awesome! Now, when I send out the song from my phone, I can hardly hear it, much less the bird in the tree. My phone volume is up, I hear my alarm???? What am I doing poorly??
New phone. Installed app. It's hearing birds but will not list what's being heard.
I’m one of many people who keep getting the ‘five day grace periode is over’ but are not receiving an email. Why isn’t this issue fixed yet?
Any idea why my recordings are disappearing from my iPhone 14? I had 24, including Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, and Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, but they are not there anymore! I am absolutely certain I did not manually delete them - is there a limit?
Used Merlin Bird ID for a few days - very impressed. But then I was told to confirm my email to continue which I did several times but I have since received no email from 'confirm@redacted'. I have sent a request to 'confirm@redacted' only to receive a message that my request was 'undeliverable'. This is a real shame - as a said above, I was very impressed with this App.
Complete guide to troubleshoot Merlin Bird ID app on iOS and Android devices. Solve all Merlin Bird ID app problems, errors, connection issues, installation problems and crashes.
Table of Contents:
Some issues cannot be easily resolved through online tutorials or self help. So we made it easy to get in contact with the support team at Cornell University, developers of Merlin Bird ID.
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. • Expert ID tips, range maps, photos, and sounds help you learn about the birds you spot and build birding skills. • Merlin was created by bird experts for everyone. • Merlin is global—look up any bird at any location. • Keep track of your sightings—linked to eBird, a global database of more than 1 billion bird observations! • Powered by Visipedia, Merlin Sound ID and Photo ID uses deep 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. • 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. • It’s available in your language. Merlin is unlike any other bird app—it's powered by eBird, the world’s largest database of bird sightings, sounds, and photos. Merlin Bird ID helps you identify birds you see and hear. Just like magic, Merlin Bird ID will help you solve the mystery. Answer a few simple questions, upload a photo, record a singing bird, or explore birds in a region. Merlin offers four fun ways to identify birds. Merlin is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Hebrew, German, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Our nonprofit mission to improve the understanding and protection of birds and nature is made possible by the generosity of Cornell Lab members, supporters, and citizen-science contributors. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s goal is to help you and millions of others to learn about birds. What's that bird? Ask Merlin—the world’s leading app for birds.