Birdwatch UK October 2017

http://www.birdguides.com/birdwatch Birdwatch•October 2017 3

THIS ISSUE OCTOBER 2017

This publication is

printed by Warners

01778 395111

ADVISORY PANEL

Tim Appleton MBE, Mike Fraser,

Chris Harbard, Erik Hirschfeld,

Stephen Moss, Killian Mullarney,

Bill Oddie OBE, Hadoram Shirihai,

Keith Vinicombe, Martin Woodcock,

Steve Young.

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Managing Editor: Dominic Mitchell

Assistant Editor: Rebecca Armstrong

Staff Writer: David Callahan

Head of Design: Lynn Wright

Optics Editor: Mike Alibone

Photographic Consultant: Steve Young

Identification Consultants: Andy

Stoddart and Keith Vinicombe

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© Warners Group Publications 2017.

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COVER PHOTO: LONG-EARED OWL BY DANNY GREEN (WWW.AGAMI.NL)INSET: AMERICAN REDSTART BY MARK RAYMENT ❯

legged Leaf Warblers, says Andy Stoddart.

46 Lines of flight

New research is revealing the reasons for

Common Cuckoo’s decline, while an

innovative art project is helping to bring

this information to the public.

48 Five ways to well-birding

Joe Harkness looks at the psychological

benefits of nature and identifies some

practical means to improve wellbeing.

WOULD you use a

smartphone app to identify

birds? Probably not, if the

answer from most birders I

know is anything to go by.

While many are happy to

have the Collins Bird Guide on their phones or

tablets for easy reference, and use bird sound

apps for playback or identifi cation, the idea

of technology telling you what you’ve seen

or photographed seems too much for many

who have developed their own ID skills in

the fi eld.

I take a di erent view. There’s no question

that fi rst-hand observation is critical to

learning how to identify birds, and it should be

an ongoing process for everyone. But why can’t

technology also play a part? The fear seems to

be that less experienced birders will look for

the easy way to clinch an ID, using phone apps

instead of developing their own knowledge

and skills to solve problems. But anyone whose

curiosity in birds has been piqued enough

to watch them will surely always want to do

so, and learn from them. An app is not a

substitute for that process, but simply another

tool – like optics, cameras and books – to help

enhance the learning experience.

At August’s Birdfair, one of the most

revolutionary new products was the Merlin

Bird ID app from The Cornell Lab of

Ornithology. This free software will perform

bird identifi cations based on simple descriptive

traits entered by the user, or by identifying

photos. Behind the intuitive interface,

however, are complex algorithms trained on

a vast library of reference photos. Merlin’s

capabilities are astounding: for example, it

is routinely separating images of Common

and Wilson’s Snipe by detecting the subtlest

distinctions in plumage patterns which we

humans cannot yet fully interpret. In a

simple experiment I ran with acclaimed bird

artist Catherine Hamilton, it even correctly

identifi ed the species in her watercolours (you

can see a video of this on our Facebook page).

The potential impact for artifi cial

intelligence in this area is huge, not just in

identifi cation but also in avian taxonomy and

other areas of research. And yet at a di erent

level this an advance which will also engage

the interested public, not as a substitute for

their own eyes and ears, but as a practical aid

to help them learn the birds around them,

just as fi eld guides will always do.

LITTLE OWL BY STEVE YOUNG (WWW.BIRDSONFILM.COM)

ContentsContents

32

Associate Sponsor

FEATURES

32 The autumn challenge

Get the best out of this most exciting of

seasons with David Callahan’s 10 top tips

to improve your birding.

37 ID photo guide: leaf warblers

Yellow-browed, Hume’s Leaf and Pallas’s

Warblers feature on many birders’ wants

list, but there’s also the possibility of the

much rarer Eastern Crowned or Pale-

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