Are you having issues? Select the issue you are having below and provide feedback to Merlin Bird ID.
Not loading birds, not able to search for birds. Keeps spinning but not finding
Won’t open
Merlin Bird ID not working on iPad
iOS app won't let me add a new region (in anticipation of travel) - it freezes when I try to select
‘unable to record. Sound recognition may be enabled.’ It’s not.
No sound for bird songs
Says I do t have any recordings and I have been recording since 2021
Merlin has begun to display bird photos in the list of those it hears. This is very annoying a
The app does not play requested calls etc
Error loading recordings.
Merlin freezes when I try to see certain lists of recordings. It seems this happens when the recordings are long- like 18 minutes. I have tried deleting the old files, but when I go to view a long file, this happens. Only once have I received a message that the app is not responding and do I want to close it. Usually I have to shut down the phone. But since I decided to delete old recordings, I keep running into this problem as I try to look at the file to delete it. I only started using this within a week after installing it. This did not start happening until a few days ago. Merlin has detected about 80 birds singing in my yard in a week. I love it!
iphone: bird pack will not install, stalls at 2-3% -- over and over. have rebooted phone, turned wifi and data on and off, pausing both in "off" for at least 30 seconds, etc.
Overall, Merlin is working great. But a few times when it tried to save a recording, something got screwed up in the app and it failed to save properly. (OK, things like that happen.) I tried then to delete these failed recordings, but if I try to open them to "delete", I get an error message saying "There was an error loading the recording". (I knew that, which is why I just wanted to delete it.) The only thing Merline will let me do at that point is say "OK" and leave the faulty recoding in place. Thus, now, I can't delete the faulty recordings. It isn't a big deal -- I just ignore them -- but I don't want to be occasionally accumulating faulty recordings in "My Sound Recordings". Is there any way to delete them?
Same as many others here... recently the Sound ID stopped identifying any birds. Uninstalled, restarted phone, and re-installed app, no change. It happened about the same time (mid-May) as others have noted here. Guessing a bug in an update?
Can’t seem to sync Merlin app with microphone in Settings. Merlin doesn’t show up on App Clips seeking access to the microphone. iOS 15.5, 5/30/22
Earlier the sund ID worked perfectly. Now I keep getting the message that there are no matches and that Merlin could not determine location or download birds for my area. I have data set for entire US!
Every time I try to save a bird, I get tue message "submission failed. Check internet connection. My internet is fine. Only Merlin is failing
5 day trial over and will not send me the confirmation email needed to continue using the app
Sound ID used to work perfectly... stopped working recently. Looks like mic level is too low and not picking up much unless it is very close to the mic. Even then it does not identify a single bird.
With the Sound ID: It is "listening for birds," and it is "hearing a bird," but no matches appear on the screen. My sound recordings worked great in the past. The last time the app worked properly was May 12.
My Merlin bird app stopped working last week. I tried uninstalling it several times and reinstalling, but to no avail. The app won't record any sounds and sometimes gives me an error that there is a bug in the app.
I just installed Merlin on my Android phone. It starts ok and then simply stops, ie, the sonagram stops moving. The stop button has no effect at that point. If I try 'clear all' I get a 'Merlin isn't responding' box request, but even then, it doesn't close. I usually need to reboot my phone to close Merlin and get it going again--with the same problem recurring . When it worked, it confused a Bobwhite with a Robin and then with a Red-bellied Woodpecker.
On the Merlin App, the Sound ID portion on my Android Phone appears to work but doesn’t identify any of the bird species around me by sound. It picks up talking according to the graph but barely any birds, In the past it would pick up birds I couldn't hear, but could then find. It’s always worked great until a week ago. Re-downloaded 2 times and still barely works. It I.D. one bird around me a Great Crested Fly Catcher, I can I.D. 5 more species around me. The BirdNET sound I.D. App still works though. Two other birders we see often also have the same problem.
Same as others are have said, sound ID never identifies any birds, even when they're loud and nearby. The sonogram never gets above the background noise in the bottom 20% of the display.
Keeps identifying tufted titmouse as an eastern towhee, and sometimes as a crow!!!
After the initial 5 days it says your 5 day period is us please confirm your email I’ve tries and tries but receive no message in my inbox or junk mail to confirm it. Tried deleting app and reinstalling but it’s saying the same. Very frustrated as it’s a brilliant app to help me.
Sound ID not working. Will record my voice (barely), but no birds id'd in last week or so. Tried it with All about birds recordings and could id the Canada Goose (wow), nothing else. Have really enjoyed this app when it works. Was suspecting my old Moto e, but from other comments everyone is having this problem. My grown kids are using this too so will ask them if it works with their better phones. Haven't tried an external mike (will one work with the Moto e?) Any fixes in the works??? Thanks
Hi, when i use the sound part of the app it locks up. There are no clear directions anywhere about how to use the red button , the x, or any other basics. I am on a trail and suddenly i find that after the apps been on for ie 45 secs it has stopped. Or, more than 2 min has gone by, and i try to exit anf start the id over, pressing the red buutton, it locks up. Or it, after pushing a variety of options or just one, a circle starts spinning in the center of the screen, and may continue for minutes or never stop. So i try tapping a general phone icon to switch apps, but everything is locked. Samsung phone 3 yrs old. Functions beautifully in all other situations. Can you help. We love ebird and cornell. We will stay with you even if we cant use sound app.
The audio stopped working recently and I have tried deleting the app twice and reinstalling it, I have tried working with a different email address and installing the current Upgrade on my iPhone. Nothing seems to work and it’s clear from the discussion groups that this app is developing a common flaw. Can you fix it?
Merlin won't download
The first week Merlin sound ID worked great. I walked out my door and it identified 10 birds in a couple of minutes. Then it stopped hearing birds well enough to identify them. I was very close to a very loud singing bird and it did not detect it.
Merlin app is stuck in a loop while I am trying to save my bird. Could not fill the contact form because the submit. Button was also greyed out
I use the sound ID program, but it keeps crashing on my android phone. Ir will work greatr for 20-30 seconds up to a minute or even sometimes a bit longer, then crashes: sonogram no longer scrolls by and it often won't close. I have tried re-installing. My wife's Merlin works great on her i-Phone. Any suggestions?
Sound recorder not working-- just like others have reported, the sonogram just records background noise.
I installed Merlin on a OnePlus 7T Android 11 and I got location not found, on a second attempt it did not provide this message and the App worked very well however later on it went back to not finding the location, in spite of location being switched on. As I had a second older phone which had Andoid 10 and I installed Merlin on this phone and it worked perfectly. As it appeared that there might be an issue with Android 11 I discovered that Apps have to be modified to obtain location data following some changes made by Google in Android 11. It would therefore appear to me that Merlin is currently not completely compatible with Android 11. Any comments? Mike
Sound ID stopped working. It will not report any bird sounds anymore. I've been having issues for a week. It worked fine before.
I recently installed Merlin on my Android (v11, Moto G Power 2021). I've downloaded the pack for my region (southeast) and although it can record sound and play it back, no birds are being identified, even when I use a loud recording of a blue jay as a test. Great looking app, and it works fine on my sister's iPhone.
Have not received reply from my last request. There are very few things that give me a sense of peace but this app did. So would someone please respond to the issues!!!!!!
Same problem as others reported recently. Was working great previously. Using the app on Android Motorola. Just stopped receiving audio signals. Sonogram seems to register background noise, but only very rarely any bird songs. And none of the bird songs are identified. I stood right next to a singing Ovenbird and Great Crested Flycatcher, and got zero response. I tried the Bird Net app and got an immediate response. Which would seem to indicate that the microphone and placement were not the issue. Hope you can find a solution.
I’m getting the message that my 5-day grace period has expired, and to reconfirm my e-mail—which I’ve done multiple times, but I’m not getting any response. So, I can’t use the app. When I click to resend email I never get an email to confirm sent to me.
Sound ID was working great up until about 4 days ago. Others seem to be having same problem. Mic working, rebooted phone, reinstalled Merlin. Seems to be "hearing" a lot of static. Very frustrating.
Worked perfectly on my Lenovo M10 tablet from 21 April 2022 until 12 May 2022 but now all recordings are just static as if the microphone gain is too high thus defeating Sound ID functionality. Other apps such as the native sound recorder still work as usual. Clearing app cache, deleting all app data, reinstalling the app, and rebooting the tablet did not help. Submitted trouble ticket and eagerly awaiting guidance as I'm addicted and experiencing withdrawal symptoms!
This app will not launch on iPhone it keeps asking to confirm email but I never receive an email so I can not reply ??
app works but only lets me record one sample. if i try agin for new recording, it doesnt pick up sound. i have to restart my phone each time for it to pick up sounds.
No longer picking up sound
App is picking up sounds but not identifying the bird. Have uninstalled and down loaded app again. Have selected pack. Trouble shooted and still not identifying birds that I can see and heat. What is going on?????
Merlin sound id has just stopped working on my android phone. I have Uninstalled and reinstalled 3 times. Microphone has permission. I also have a tablet device with an older merlin version. It works fine but is a big to large to carry while birding. Any help is appreciated
Merlin photo ID will not open the photo about every 5th ID. I click on the photo I want, and Merlin does not "grab" it. Instead, it just goes back to the home screen. I'm using an iPhone 13Pro.
App not confirming. Just sits and states grace period is up. Don’t want to delete app and have all the data deleted
I had similar issues with the app. Update in app store and it will be fixed.
App keeps telling me my five day period is up and to confirm my email. I never get the email.
Sound id is not picking up sounds. But I know my mic is working on other apps.
I’m getting the message that my 5-day grace period has expired, and to reconfirm my e-mail—which I’ve done multiple times, but I’m not getting any response. So, I can’t use the app during this time. Can you please advise me how I can get it working again? I’m using an Apple iPhone 11 with IOS 15.4.1 . Thank you!
I just won't let me sign in, I've changed my password and everything.
I was supposed to get an email for me to confirm my email address and my app stopped working. No email came and choosing send another does not send me an email. Please help!!!!
Explore birds not working after update
I am having the problem referred to above. It is telling me my grace period is over. I have not gotten an email and it is not in my spam folder. I can’t get into the ap anymore.
One sound recording is frozen and will not allow me to erase it. All other recordings will allow me to erase them.
I cannot get on Merlin app. It keeps saying your 5 days grace period is up and you must confirm your email to proceed. However it never sends me an email. I checked all mail, spam , inbox etc. I requested it to be resent multiple times. I retyped in my email address. I deleted the app and redownloaded it. Yet it never sends me an email so I cannot confirm it and am locked out. I ran a search in my email in case I missed it. Nothing. It was never sent.
After recording for several minutes, and upon returning to the recording, no birds are shown. In one case, I receive the message "error loading the recording" and in another case I see only "identifying". This is so frustrating because my past recordings are loaded with birds!
Continually wants me to verify my account. 5 free days are up, verify. Happens over and over. Very frustrating. Now it won’t send me an email either.
I have never gotten an ID from Merlin. It looks like it is recording there is a section that shows blips that seems to correspond with the bird I am listening to but then I get a message that they cannot identify the bird and it may not be in your database. I am certain I was listening to a Cardinal
Love the app when it works BUT over & over it says “your 5 day grace period is over” and I need to confirm my email. I can’t find the pertinent email and it doesn’t send it again. Sometimes I can turn my phone off and on and recapture the app. Sometimes that doesn’t work either. I’m frustrated.
The Merlin sound ID on my iPhone appears to work but doesn’t identify any of the bird species around me. It’s always worked great before yesterday.
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Developer: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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a AndroidOS user from Martinez, United States reported problems with Merlin Bird ID : Crashes
a Windows user from Matlock, United Kingdom reported problems with Merlin Bird ID : Crashes
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a AndroidOS user from Tokyo, Japan reported problems with Merlin Bird ID : Crashes
a AndroidOS user from Salt Lake City, United States reported problems with Merlin Bird ID : Crashes