You're correct. They're not closely related other than by name.
Wikipedia says:
The American robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory bird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider thrush family. It is named after the European robin[3] because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the Old World flycatcher family.
Does Merlin do images? I thought it only did sounds.
That said, I use Seek by iNautralist for image identification.
Edit: after making this comment i opened the app and actually looked at the interface beyond the green microphone button i polish as soon as I normally open it. Sure enough there is an id by photo button. 🤦♂️
15 Comments
DeltaZSK@kbin.earth · 25 pts · 62d
definitely a robin
icanbrewmushrooms@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 62d
Really? European robins look very different, the only similarity is the red breast (and even then, it's only a superficial similarity)
Edit: I'm not trying to contradict you, just slightly surprised
folekaule@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 62d
You're correct. They're not closely related other than by name. Wikipedia says:
waxy@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 62d
Do yourself a huge favour and get the Merlin Bird ID app. It'll be your best friend when trying to identify the birds you spot.
DeltaZSK@kbin.earth · 4 pts · 62d
+1 for Merlin. It got our whole discord server into birding
nocturne@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 62d
Does Merlin do images? I thought it only did sounds.
That said, I use Seek by iNautralist for image identification.
Edit: after making this comment i opened the app and actually looked at the interface beyond the green microphone button i polish as soon as I normally open it. Sure enough there is an id by photo button. 🤦♂️
Durandal@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 62d
It will do images, sounds, or step by step id. Because it's by cornell university and they also run eBird.. you can connect the two if you want also.
nocturne@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 62d
Thanks! I will look into using it for other ids!
dan1101@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 62d
The sound ID is really fun and impressive. I like going on a walk through a park or woods and seeing how many birds it identifies from sound alone.
Durandal@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 62d
I really like using it that way.. then I can start training myself to ID them by sound by using the app's ID as a cheat sheet.
orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 62d
Yes. That's the bastard that wakes me up every morning at 4:30.
folekaule@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 62d
Him and the mourning doves
humble_boatsman@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 62d
I'm finding that they love middle ground, that is fence posts and my wood pile height
sleet01@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 62d
I usually see them about a meter up in blackberry bushes, so that tracks.
iThinkDifferentThanU@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 62d
duck, it's a middle American launchpad-mcquack duck extremely rare!!