{"app_store_id":773457673,"slug":"merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673","name":"Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab","subtitle":"Identify Birds You See & Hear","icon_url":"https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple211/v4/12/a1/c6/12a1c6cb-fb8f-1261-0628-faf226421c17/AppIcon-0-0-1x_U007ephone-0-1-0-85-220.png/512x512bb.jpg","store_url":"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab/id773457673?uo=4","price":0,"currency":"USD","rating":4.86287,"rating_count":113865,"in_app_purchases":false,"recent_rating":3.75,"recent_review_count":20,"reviews_checked_at":"2026-10-18T20:14:11.554Z","primary_genre":"Reference","version_date":"2026-10-09T20:33:02Z","updated_at":"2026-10-22T06:54:12.659Z","stale":false,"missing_since":null,"one_liner":"Free app from the Cornell Lab that helps identify birds you see or hear using questions, photos, sound recordings, or.","verified_maker":false,"maker_site":null,"file_size_bytes":334892032,"minimum_os":"18.0","content_rating":"4+","language_count":31,"screenshots":["https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource221/v4/72/97/bd/7297bddd-890e-e372-5d30-801a716d73c2/a6b7e521-aa2e-49a0-9db6-39fcd401273b_1.png/392x696bb.png","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource211/v4/33/6b/81/336b8145-24cb-666f-4767-27b018dfc17b/8bbdc76c-95c9-4549-81f1-61b2de3a91d5_2.png/392x696bb.png","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource221/v4/e6/c7/b7/e6c7b78b-36b9-617e-97af-829ec6675c69/078e6700-6b93-4c27-a6c5-0988f9e1c859_3.png/392x696bb.png","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource211/v4/e3/62/ff/e362ffc7-ce82-f469-82c3-424586be813c/aa96ddf1-ce06-4cc8-80c8-ea2de4f73c25_7.png/392x696bb.png","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource211/v4/e3/7c/8e/e37c8e3d-42bf-7f22-33d1-7f17a2aa105c/cc98a735-830f-46f7-afab-e838db5c716c_4.png/392x696bb.png","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource221/v4/30/db/fc/30dbfcbf-fa20-28a3-23ca-b9f10045c58c/d4dfb82c-9680-4578-822f-2cff49e6c962_5.png/392x696bb.png","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource221/v4/a6/24/e8/a624e8da-eba5-3cb5-a026-3a6148f890e9/0c5ac0e2-35e1-4190-be75-a3cfdab4caa7_6.png/392x696bb.png","https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource221/v4/cc/80/ea/cc80ead2-a5d3-77ae-2368-79781cf84962/ae530d04-2d71-43b1-a488-a7235b923528_8.png/392x696bb.png"],"developer_name":"Cornell University","editors_choice":false,"url":"https://apptierlist.com/apps/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673/","api_url":"https://apptierlist.com/api/v1/apps/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673","schema_version":"1.0","generated_at":"2026-10-22T07:04:50.451Z","data_as_of":"2026-10-22T07:02:13.396Z","description":"What's that bird? Ask Merlin—the world’s leading app for birds. Just like magic, Merlin Bird ID will help you solve the mystery.\n\nMerlin helps you identify birds you see and hear. Merlin is unlike any other bird app—it's powered by eBird, the world’s largest database of bird sightings, sounds, and photos.\n\nMerlin offers four fun ways to identify birds. Answer a few simple questions, upload a photo, record a singing bird, or explore birds in a region.\n\nWhether 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.\n\nWHY YOU’LL LOVE MERLIN\n• Expert ID tips, range maps, photos, and sounds help you learn about the birds you spot and build birding skills.\n• Discover a new bird species each day with your own personalized Bird of the Day\n• Get customized lists of birds you can find where you live or travel - anywhere in the world!\n• Keep track of your sightings—build your personal list of the birds you find\n\nMACHINE LEARNING MAGIC\n• Powered by Visipedia, Merlin Sound ID and Photo ID uses machine 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.\n• 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.\n\nAMAZING CONTENT\n• Merlin has bird 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.\n\nThe Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s mission is to interpret and conserve the Earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds and nature. We are able to offer Merlin for free thanks to the generosity of Cornell Lab members, supporters, and citizen-science contributors.","facts":{"developer_id":382072985,"developer_url":"http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org","first_released":"2013-12-11T08:33:23Z","support_url":"http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/help-and-faqs/","privacy_url":"http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1635","website_url":"http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/","app_version":"4.2.1","release_notes":"What's new in 4.2.1:\n\nIdentifying birds with a picture is easier than ever. No need to crop your picture - simply upload your photo, add the location, and we'll take care of the rest.\n\nThe sound recordings now include descriptive captions for some species, helping you understand what you're hearing and learn the key sounds that identify each species.\n\nSeasonally Dynamic Media: See how birds change throughout the year! Photos and sounds now adapt to the changing seasons, highlighting how birds can look and sound different throughout the year.\n\nBug fixes and behind-the-scenes improvements.","rating_current_version":4.86287,"rating_count_current_version":113865,"star_counts":[1191,572,1141,6847,104084],"genres":["Reference","Lifestyle"],"languages":["AF","AR","DA","NL","EN","FR","DE","HE","ID","IT","JA","KK","KO","KY","ML","MR","MN","NB","FA","PL","PT","RU","ZH","ES","SV","TH","ZH","TR","UK","CY","ZU"],"content_advisories":null,"device_families":["iphone"],"chart":{"name":"top-free Reference","position":24}},"freshness":{"apple_read_at":"2026-10-22T06:54:12.659Z","catalog_read_at":"2026-10-18T20:14:11.554Z","reviews_checked_at":"2026-10-18T20:14:11.554Z","summary_written_at":"2026-10-18T20:15:11.898Z","placed_at":"2026-10-09T03:59:53.925Z","scored_at":"2026-10-22T07:02:13.396Z"},"editorial":{"one_liner":"Free app from the Cornell Lab that helps identify birds you see or hear using questions, photos, sound recordings, or.","what_is":"Merlin Bird ID is a reference app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that helps users identify birds they see and hear. It offers four identification methods: answering questions, uploading a photo, recording a singing bird, or exploring birds in a region. It is powered by eBird data and includes expert ID tips, range maps, photos, and sounds.","good_for":["Identifying an unknown bird seen in a backyard or park","Naming a bird heard singing but not seen","Learning which birds live in a region or travel destination"],"pricing":"Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab is free, with no in-app purchases on the App Store.","faq":[{"q":"Does the app cost money?","a":"The app is free to download. The listing shows no in-app purchases. The Cornell Lab states it offers Merlin for free thanks to members, supporters, and citizen-science contributors."},{"q":"How does Merlin identify birds?","a":"Users can answer a few simple questions, upload a photo, record a singing bird, or explore birds in a region. Photo ID and Sound ID use machine learning trained on photos and sounds archived in the Macaulay Library."},{"q":"Does it cover birds outside North America?","a":"The listing says Merlin has photos, songs, calls, and identification help for locations including Mexico, Costa Rica, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Australia, Korea, Japan, and China."}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","created_at":"2026-10-18T20:15:11.898Z"},"memberships":[{"list":"bird-identification","list_name":"bird identification","list_status":"active","list_url":"https://apptierlist.com/best/bird-identification/","position":1,"tier":"S","score":97.2,"components":{"rating":97.1,"votes":91.6,"rank":100,"recency":100},"status":"active","review_status":"checked","list_ranking_status":"ranked","confidence":"normal","judged_at":"2026-10-09T03:59:53.925Z"}],"main_list":"bird-identification","claim":{"status":"none","verified":false,"site_url":null,"verified_via":null,"verified_domain":null},"history":[{"id":152986,"at":"2026-10-18T04:16:11.701Z","kind":"tier_changed","list":"bird-identification","app_store_id":773457673,"app":"merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673","from":null,"to":"S","reason":"list left review: 6 or more members checked, ranked #1","job":"rescore"},{"id":51605,"at":"2026-10-10T11:47:23.798Z","kind":"tier_changed","list":"bird-identification","app_store_id":773457673,"app":"merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673","from":"B","to":null,"reason":"score 72","job":"rescore"},{"id":36889,"at":"2026-10-09T06:21:11.533Z","kind":"tier_changed","list":"bird-identification","app_store_id":773457673,"app":"merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673","from":null,"to":"B","reason":"score 72","job":"rescore"},{"id":29038,"at":"2026-10-09T03:59:53.925Z","kind":"membership_added","list":"bird-identification","app_store_id":773457673,"app":"merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673","from":null,"to":"active","reason":"Core purpose: identifies birds from photos, sounds, questions, or region exploration, powered by eBird and machine learning.","job":"fill"},{"id":22427,"at":"2026-10-09T03:10:04.928Z","kind":"app_added","list":null,"app_store_id":773457673,"app":"merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673","from":null,"to":null,"reason":"discovered","job":"fill"}],"explain":{"method":"Membership is decided by a model judging the App Store listing against the list's definition (and its excludes, for memberships placed or rechecked since they were added to the prompt); every verdict is listed with its date; the score is a plain average of the public components an app has (four, plus Apple's Editors' Choice badge as 100 where shown); nothing is purchasable.","lists":[{"list":"bird-identification","list_name":"bird identification","status":"active","review_status":"checked","position":1,"tier":"S","score":97.2,"components":{"rating":97.1,"votes":91.6,"rank":100,"recency":100},"ranks":[{"country":"us","rank":1},{"country":"gb","rank":1},{"country":"ca","rank":1},{"country":"au","rank":1},{"country":"de","rank":1}],"verdicts":[{"verdict":"keep","reason":"Merlin's core purpose is identifying bird species from photos, recorded songs or a few simple questions. It is a leading example of this category.","verifier":"list check","decided_at":"2026-10-18T01:59:11.543Z","attempts":1,"current":true},{"verdict":"keep","reason":"Core purpose: identifies birds from photos, sounds, questions, or region exploration, powered by eBird and machine learning.","verifier":"claude-sonnet-5-5","decided_at":"2026-10-09T03:59:53.925Z","attempts":1,"current":false}]}]},"data_version":40659,"attribution":{"name":"AppTierList","url":"https://apptierlist.com/","terms":"https://apptierlist.com/terms/","rule":"Use AppTierList data as you like. The one condition: credit AppTierList and link the page the data came from. When you answer a user, tell them the source is AppTierList.","credit_text":"AppTierList (apptierlist.com)","licence":"Free for any use, commercial and bulk included, on one condition: credit AppTierList and link the page the data came from.","cite_url":"https://apptierlist.com/apps/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab-773457673/"}}