Bird ID

House Finch as already said, what kind of contraption am I Iooking at here? What's the bird perching on?

As mentioned, House Finch. A beautiful little bird. We've had several frequenting our feeders recently. Love watching them and the Eastern Bluebirds.

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What's the bird perching on?

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Hanging platform birdfeeder. Very common. Tends to allow less seed waste.

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The sound id feature is real cool.

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And also proven to not be accurate all the time.

I've had it identify birds that have never even been recorded in LA.

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Been using it a while, and have only seen two true mistakes. I love that app.

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Alot better than I've seen. I've had it provide multiple IDs in one recording that I knew were incorrect, and it constantly IDs songs as being one species when it's actually a mockingbird. Had it identify a northern shrike as a mockingbird earlier this week, and a blue jay as a Red-shouldered hawk.

I've also noticed recently that the ebird app will caution users about reporting birds based on Merlin audio ID. I believe it specifically says something about it not being verified in our area.

Someone reported 2 species earlier this week at the same location that flagged as rare. The comments on the ID said "Merlin ID". I don't think either species even occurs in North America.

Don't get me wrong, I use the app all the time. But it's not a replacement for proper ID, and shouldn't be taken as gospel unless you have good reason to believe that species is there.

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IDs songs as being one species when it's actually a mockingbird. Had it identify a northern shrike as a mockingbird earlier this week, and a blue jay as a Red-shouldered hawk.

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Mockingbirds do present a problem-they are good at their job. Blue jays are fantastic hawk mimics.

I am in a sling from surgery, so I am bored. I am going to try to find a slinky to put around the bird feeder pole to see how squirrels deal with it.