Treasure Hunt #4

Article

June 2026

In Treasure Hunt, we share the treasures we find in, around and far beyond the editorial office: from ingenious objects and beautiful invitations to lines of poetry or something wondrous from nature. Anything goes, as long as it leaves us a little enchanted. Today: an app for bird lovers.

Fig 1. Vincent van Gogh, The Kingfisher, 1886, oil on canvas, 26.6 cm x 19.1 cm © Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

‘Blackbird, wood pigeon, great tit, chiffchaff, treecreeper, tree pipit, willow warbler, great crested grebe – my “bird of the day” – cuckoo, gadwall… It’s just a small selection from the 145 birds I might see today, and above all hear, in the Utrecht area, Merlin Bird ID tells me enthusiastically. This app is a kind of Shazam for birdsong or, as its makers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology describe it: a free global bird guide with photos, sounds, maps and more.

Merlin Bird ID predicts which birds you might hear near you through its ‘Explore’ function. Once outside – ideally in nature, though it works surprisingly well in the city too – one tap of the microphone for ‘Sound ID’ gives you an overview of all the birds making themselves heard nearby. The more I use the app, the better I become at recognising which chirp or whistle belongs to which bird.

Perhaps I’m late to the party – whenever I talk about the app enthusiastically, the person I’m speaking to often turns out to have known it for ages – but that doesn’t make it any less of a treasure.

– Barbera Bosma
Acting Managing Editor

Merlin Bird ID is available to download for free here.