What is Merlin?

When people notice a new bird, the first question they often ask is, "What bird did I see?" We're building Merlin to help people find the answer.

Merlin will be a new kind of bird identification tool—one that combines artificial intelligence with input from real-life bird watchers to produce an online "wizard" that helps people ID birds quickly and connects them to more information.

To build Merlin, we need to know how thousands of people remember and describe birds. You can help us through online activities that gather the information to help Merlin understand what bird watchers see. The more you play, the more you'll help Merlin become a true bird ID wizard.

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation.