She pulls out the sound of a sora, a bird that lives in the marsh, but no one is able to spot it. It’s quite a secretive bird, Dykstra said. “Birding starts with listening,” Dkystra said later in an interview. As a birding newbie, the best thing to do is start listening for the sounds of the kinds of birds you see all the time, like chickadees, known for their iconic call. Get used to listening to the birds you know before launching into tracking
down more novel winged wonders. “Then when you hear something you’ve never heard before, it sticks out to you,” she said. One then naturally starts building a personal inventory of bird calls and matching species. “That’s how you start birding. The more you do it, the better you get at it.” Many people also have what birders call a “spark bird,” which Dykstra said is the first bird someone takes note of that gets them curious to learn more. ‘Everything is AI-generated’ but birding is
authentic Technology is both pushing newbies away from their screens and into nature, while also connecting birders and acting as a tool for birding. While influencers are one part of it, the introduction of birding apps, like Merlin Bird ID, and eBird, both developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, are another. As of 2025, the Merlin app has more than ten million users worldwide.
Edmonton birding, young birders, Merlin Bird ID, eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, sora, chickadees, marsh birds
Bird sounds are way more reliable than apps, imo.
So she’s saying “listen first” which is honestly common sense, but the AI part?? Like everything is AI generated now? I still don’t get how bird apps help if the whole point is real nature lol.
Merlin Bird ID is cool but half the time it tells me random stuff like it’s reading my mind. Also sora is the marsh bird right? If they can’t even spot it then how is this proving anything besides “some birds are hard”??
Young birders finding their voice sounds sweet but I swear I heard sora calls are like, impossible unless you already know the whole marsh like a local. And the article says apps push people away from screens, but Merlin literally uses your phone the whole time so… which is it? Also “spark bird”?? Is that like the first bird you obsess over and then you never stop? Because that seems kinda true for me with chickadees lol.