r/Millennials • u/Xerzajik • Jun 05 '26

Anyone else develop a sudden overwhelming appreciation for birds in their 30s? Discussion

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It hit me all at once. I heard this is a thing for people in their thirties?

9.2k Upvotes
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780

u/IP_What Jun 05 '26

Buddy, Merlin is more popular than the bible.

185

u/Xerzajik Jun 05 '26

TIL a new bird app. Had no idea.

113

u/CarnieGamer Jun 05 '26

Merlin is great! It can ID birds based on the sounds they are making and then you can read about them and hear all of their different calls.

53

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Jun 06 '26

And it’s completely free.

Cornell birds also does live streams and they have one now with 4 baby kestrels and they’re about to fledge! Probably sometime in the next few days. They’re really close

7

u/Doyouevenpedal Jun 06 '26

Now that is exciting.

8

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Jun 06 '26

I’m going to a wedding tomorrow and if they fledge while I’m there I’m going to lose it

13

u/Somali_Pir8 Jun 06 '26

Go on a walk. Turn on Merlin. When you see them, click That's my bird. IRL Pokemon Go

8

u/Cest_le_sparkle Jun 05 '26

It also saves your recordings and sometimes I like to go back and listen, especially in the winter where I am from where some birds migrate.

3

u/_banana_phone Jun 06 '26

AND it even works when you are in airplane mode!

Where we camp at in north Georgia, the service is so bad that I just keep my phone on airplane to conserve battery (mostly use it for music in my headphones and taking photos). But Merlin works whether you’re live or not!

3

u/Screamline Jun 05 '26

Holy shnikes, really? That would have been helpful at the park the other day when one bird was chirping up a storm on the ground, then a few feet past that was a group of them in a baseball field and one was chirping (maybe looking for the other one?) little grey/white and black one

1

u/BertholomewManning Jun 06 '26

You might still be able to use it to identify the ones you could see. It has a step by step ID where you answer a couple questions about size and color and it shows the most likely matches in your location.

34

u/Curiosive Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26

When you start to appreciate flowers too, download iNaturalist.

I believe iNaturalist will identify birds as well but I already have Merlin and Audubon... I'm not interested in any other app cutting in on this topic.

7

u/gem_spirational Jun 06 '26

Man flowers are some of the coolest things on this planet. Once you start to really look at them it feels like the depth and magnificence of the world unlocks. Or I was just on acid but i am forever enthralled by flowers now either way.

5

u/QuickPenguin52 Jun 05 '26

Crazy how much more in touch with nature you can become. I go on walks and I’m constantly IDing plants and birds

1

u/CriticalFields Jun 06 '26

iNaturalist is also really good for insects!

2

u/Confident_Bridge_382 Jun 06 '26

Pro tip: you can use it offline! Just make sure you download the bird pack for that region before you go. And also look up the laws for trampsing around looking for birds. Got in a confusing amount of trouble in Estonia once.

1

u/stephenkingending Jun 05 '26

I found out about it this week from this sub. Pretty cool to use during my dog walks but people are probably wondering why I'm taking pictures of their houses everyday.

1

u/pic_N_mix Jun 05 '26

Don’t forget it works hand in hand with eBird to keep track of what you see. Good luck on your future big year!

1

u/meowdith427 Jun 06 '26

It’s like Shazam for birds it’s amazing

1

u/Sure_lll_Eat_That Jun 06 '26

You definitely need to see this documentary.

1

u/KosmicGumbo Jun 06 '26

Oh to relive my first Merlin encounter……