It's already been mentioned in at least one thread, but the accumulation of data (sightings, photos, sounds, etc.) has enabled the creation of some incredible t

It's already been mentioned in at least one thread, but the accumulation of data (sightings, photos, sounds, etc.) has enabled the creation of some incredible tools. Probably the most useful for the average person is Merlin[0], which uses machine learning to identify birds based on a photo or descriptive characteristics (Size, color, habitat, etc.). I was skeptical when it was first introduced, but it's surprisingly good with most bird species. eBird data is tremendously helpful for generating the ID because location and date information can be tremendously important for identifying very similar looking species. To use an example local to me, a smallish brown bird with a brown back and spotted chest on September 10th in my location is probably likely to be a Swainson's Thrush, but could be Hermit Thrush. Three weeks later that same bird is 99% likely to be a Hermit Thrush. [0] https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/ https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/