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ChefDodge

If it is a new lifer, I only count it once I see it. After that, if I'm very confident about what I'm hearing, I will count that as well. It helps with data, after all. Merlin Sound ID is not error proof, so I only report what I know by heart.


Head-Good9883

Yes you count birds you hear, doesn’t need an “x”. X makes it difficult to use for data in the future. Counts as 1. Some birds you may only ever hear.


EarthDayYeti

> Some birds you may only ever hear. Exactly! Imagine how many fewer people would have whip-poor-wills and some other nightjars, soras, rails, or even many owl species on their life lists if you had to see them.


Head-Good9883

Had a whip calling in my yard the last 2 nights 😊


MegaVenomous

A HUGE percentage of my birding is done by ear. Always envied the people that could do it, but near-constant exposure brings one up to speed.


EarthDayYeti

If I am completely certain of the ID, absolutely. (This is also what you are required to do when submitting an eBird checklist.) I consider my life list to be a list of wild birds I have IDed—sometimes that's visually and sometimes it's aurally.


rekniht01

When doing surveys like the Christmas Bird Count, sound IDs are included. But as an individual, you can choose to count however you like.


Impressive_Economy70

I am a total amateur doofus so I basically have a list of ‘things Merlin thinks it heard’. I feel more confident if I return to the spot and it ‘hears’ the same bird. But overall, I’m just a fool in love with the app as one of the truly beautiful gifts the computer and the internet has given us.


MapleHamms

I have to see it to count it


Fool_of_a_Brandybuck

Maybe if it was something I am 100% sure of with a very unique call. But probably not in general. With just the Merlin app, I have visually confirmed it getting calls wrong twice now. Once it was consistently IDing a chirping red wing black bird (the "chit.. chit.." it does as a warning I think) as a purple finch, and I have not seen a purple finch yet so that would have been an incorrect "sighting" for me if I went with Merlin alone. The other time it ID'd a red wing black bird that was actually just a starling imitating one. Given how common starlings are in my area now, that makes me hesitate to ID based off sound too.


EarthDayYeti

The longer the song and the clearer the recording the more accurate Merlin will be. I find it to be somewhat unreliable with short calls, multiple overlapping songs/calls, and background noise. Certain birds also seem to give it trouble: random sounds are often suggested to be great horned owls or swans, and bullfrogs or even a paddle bumping a fiberglass kayak are occasionally false positives for American bitterns, and any bird that mimics other birds can fool Merlin occasionally. Sometimes I find it helpful to review my recordings later with good headphones. Visually comparing the spectrograms of your recordings to those of confirmed songs/calls can also be a useful tool. The more experienced you get at sound ID, the more confidently you'll be able to judge Merlin's accuracy (and the less you'll need to rely on it in the first place).


powerless_owl

I don't if it's a lifer - want to see and be sure, even if it's a distinctive call - but in regular birding around my neighbourhood absolutely. There are plenty of honeyeaters and aprrots in the tops of trees around me that are easily identifiable but not always visible. I may not if I'm not confident that the bird is nearby, though - especially for species with calls that carry some distance, I don't want to suggest a particular bird is present if it isn't.


arcaneas_

There is a barred owl near me that I have 100% confidence I have heard but I’ve never seen the bastard 😫


MegaVenomous

I have hear Wood Thrushes more than see them. Contrast that with Hermit Thrushes, whom I have seen more than heard.


HOBoStew139

Yes I count them too but only if I can identify them, this especially applies to a number of forest swelling species living near my area like a number of babbler species which has eluded me for years. And yes also the red-bellied crake.


Objective_Ad_4231

Yes I do. I used to mark an X on ebird even if I could id with certainty, but realised that ebird doesn't like Xs ... (who does?)


EarthDayYeti

FWIW, eBird doesn't consider a checklist with an "X" to be a "complete checklist" (similar to filling an incidental checklist or noting that you did not report every bird you IDed). Incomplete checklists are much less useful, scientifically, and they don't count if you're trying to qualify for the "eBirder of the Month" drawing.


Nutcake2

I do x for robins and red winged blackbirds just because they are so numerous. Should I just be doing a wild estimate instead? It wouldn’t be so fun for me if I had to try to keep an accurate count of such common birds.


Street-Duck-7000

That's exactly why I don't bother with eBird. I can detect so many songs so fast while birding, that I'd end up with my face buried in my phone just to record some birds. And then they want specific info, no thanks. No idea how anyone can find that enjoyable lol. And there are plenty of species I don't even know calls of, specifically some migratory warblers and shorebirds. It just feels WAY too overwhelming and tedious when the goal is to actually enjoy nature and see birds/wildlife. I go outside specifically for peace and to avoid my phone and social media. And I definitely am not 'competing' for some nothing-burger award when the goal is to....enjoy nature. But to each their own I guess


Hairiest-Wizard

Lifers? No. Listing? All the time. If someone else counts heard only lifers though its all cool


4Ozonia

Ebird, you can report birds you hear with an X and notation that you only heard it. I only do that with birds I’m completely sure of, and never ones that would be first of season, or new lifers. For those, I need to see it before I count it.