Megan Szostak, 26, was all the time a “chicken child”.
The urge to look at and respect the world round her – and avians flitting out and in of it – has been ingrained in her since childhood, when she was given her grandfather’s binoculars after he died.
Armed with this and a subject information in her dwelling of San Francisco, she set about figuring out birds from an early age.
However in recent times, her birding toolbelt has expanded to incorporate one thing much more trendy – an app.
“I had buddies who most likely would not describe themselves as birders, however extra simply interested by nature and the world round them, advocate it to me,” Megan mentioned.
She is one among many hundreds of thousands of people that have downloaded Merlin Chicken ID, which claims to have the ability to establish nearly any chicken by its look, tune or name.
“I feel that it has been a extremely useful gizmo that I’ve built-in into my birding routine,” she mentioned.
And whether or not right down to heatwaves sending extra folks open air, or youthful folks delving into birding, these apps are booming in recognition.
Chief amongst them is Merlin Chicken ID, which was developed by Cornell College’s Lab of Ornithology.
It has been downloaded 12 million occasions in 2026 alone, in accordance with director Jessie Barry – who says it has had 42 million downloads general.
She says the app has come a great distance because it first launched within the US in 2014, with machine studying methods which may establish 285 frequent chicken species from images.
An actual feather in its cap on the time, however a decade or so on, and it will possibly now establish 11,000 species of birds – round as many as exist on the planet.
Barry put the event right down to AI, in addition to “a tremendous neighborhood of world chicken watchers who’re capable of submit their recordings” – which means extra information to coach the tech.
