Introduction
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology plans to link the Merlin ID app's data to the eBird platform, one of the world's largest citizen-science biodiversity projects.
The Merlin bird ID app will allow users to feed real-time bird identifications into one of the world’s biggest citizen-science biodiversity projects, which is hoped to aid conservation of at-risk birds.
The Merlin ID App
Since 2021, the free Merlin app, created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, has used machine learning to provide an almost instantaneous sound-identification service for birdsong, along with an image for each bird identified.
In the future, the detections of bird species recorded by people will be automatically collected on the global online database eBird, which contains more than 2 billion bird observation records.
The eBird Platform
The eBird platform is one of the primary tools for monitoring global biodiversity, allowing scientists and conservationists to monitor bird populations and identify critical conservation areas.
The integration of the Merlin ID app with the eBird platform will enable bird identification data to be used to inform conservation efforts and protect the most endangered birds.
Conclusion
The partnership between the Merlin ID app and the eBird platform is an example of how technology and citizen science can be used to promote biodiversity conservation and protect the environment.
With the ability to collect and analyze large datasets, these initiatives can help identify critical conservation areas and inform efforts to protect the most endangered birds.
Source / Reference
Source: The Guardian Environment