Help from Cornell Univ in identifying Birds

[Al_HikesAZ]

Cornell University has recently announced a beta Bird Photo ID program.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
We'd like to invite you to try out our new Merlin Bird Photo ID tool, designed to identify 400 North American bird species. Just upload a photo, point out where the bird's bill, eye, and tail are, and the computer takes it from there. For this beta-testing phase, Photo ID is just available on the Web and does not work on phones or tablets—please bear with us. Merlin Bird Photo ID works through machine learning techniques, so it gets "smarter" the more people use it—please give it a try and help it improve!

http://merlin.allabout...

[azbackpackr]

Wow!

[big_load]

I wish I had more pictures of birds, instead of pictures of where birds were one shutter lag ago.

[SAMBA]

Merlin is 1 for 1 in my rather limited sample survey. Very "kewl".

[AZWanderingBear]

I tried it with a photo of a duck I recently took. Told me it was one of 3 woodpeckers. I must suck as a photographer.

[CannondaleKid]

I must suck as a photographer

Could it be you can't tell the difference between a bird's bill and tail? ;)

[AZWanderingBear]

I must suck as a photographer

Could it be you can't tell the difference between a bird's bill and tail? ;)

I had a very witty reply about tails and bills, but I value my access to the site. LOL

[CannondaleKid]

I had a very witty reply about tails and bills, but I value my access to the site. LOL

Possibly the same thought I had before I adjusted my response for the G-Rating audience.

[azbackpackr]

There are many interesting and funny names of birds. This is a quote from the American Birding Association:

"perks: Many novice birders enjoy the name of the Tufted Titmouse, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is the Sombre Tit, the Blue Tit, the Great Tit, and even in other families there are tit-like birds like the penduline-perks, tit-spinetails, the Layard’s Tit-Babbler, or the Agile Tit-Tyrant. I’m not making this stuff up."

http://blog.aba.org/2013/12/the-top-10- ... world.html

[AZWanderingBear]

[quote="azbackpackr"]There are many interesting and funny names of birds. This is a quote from the American Birding Association:

the Tit-Babbler, or the Agile Tit-Tyrant."

I think these were two of the flight attendants on my last trip.

This thread went downhill in a hurry.