alt Hacker NewsI'm a regular user, and I highly recommend it. / Here are some things that I'm not clear on (admittedly because I haven't researched them yet):
1. Are recordings shared with Cornell? By default?
2. Is it "recommended" or "expected" that I try to get a visual id on the birds, too?
I'm also a regular user.
Q1: To my knowledge for the merlin app, no. Just local storage to your phone as a WAV file.
Q2: If you've started down the path of using Merlin, there is a companion app from the Cornell group called ebird. It used GPS to list birding Hotspot near your location. You can keep track of what you've seen. If you want to get extra verification on your sightings you can upload pictures and audio files at a later time on the ebird website. Real live humans, volunteer birding experts, will verify your sightings. I've gotten to meet some very knowledgeable birders through this process. All of this data goes into scientific research. On the ebird website the have specific protocols on what make for a good observation. It is my understanding that submitted and vetted photos and audio files will make it into the NN models used by the Merlin app.
Happy birding to everyone!