Huck vs Merlin Bird ID
An honest comparison. Merlin Bird ID details verified October 2026.
Merlin Bird ID is a free app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and it is one of the best birding tools ever made. It identifies birds from a photo, from a recording of their song or call, or by walking you through a few quick questions, and it covers more than 10,000 species worldwide with Sound ID for over 2,000 of them. It is free with no in-app purchases, on iPhone and Android, and it is backed by Cornell's eBird data. If birds are your focus, Merlin is superb. Huck is a different kind of app: it identifies all wildlife, not only birds, and presents everything as a hand-illustrated field guide with a live map of recent sightings near you.
| Huck | Merlin Bird ID | |
|---|---|---|
| What it identifies | All wildlife: plants, birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians | Birds only (10,000+ species worldwide) |
| Live map of sightings near you | Yes, a live map of recent research-grade sightings near you | No live sightings map (eBird handles sightings separately) |
| Look and feel | Hand-illustrated field guide with 2,600+ original plates | Clean, photo-based bird cards |
| Depth on birds | Covers birds well, but as one group among many | Deep, expert birding reference with best-in-class bird Sound ID |
| Cost | Free with a few IDs per day, optional paid upgrade | Completely free, no in-app purchases |
| Platforms | iPhone only | iPhone and Android |
Choose Merlin if
Birds are your main interest and you want the deepest, most trusted bird tool available. Merlin's Sound ID and photo ID are excellent, it is completely free, it is on both iPhone and Android, and it is built on Cornell's eBird data. For pure birding it is hard to beat.
Choose Huck if
You want to identify all wildlife, not only birds, and you love the idea of a beautiful illustrated field guide plus a live map of what people are actually spotting near you. Huck also includes on-device bird Sound ID, so it can listen too, alongside plants, mammals, insects, reptiles and amphibians.
Try Huck
Identify any plant, bird, or animal from a photo, and see what wildlife is being spotted near you on a live map.
Get HuckCommon questions
Is Merlin Bird ID free?
Yes. Merlin is completely free from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, with no in-app purchases.
Does Merlin identify animals other than birds?
No. Merlin is focused entirely on birds. For plants, mammals, insects and other wildlife you would want an all-taxa app like Huck, Seek or iNaturalist.
Is there a bird ID app that also identifies plants and other wildlife?
Yes. Huck identifies all wildlife from a photo, including birds (with on-device bird Sound ID), plants, mammals, insects, reptiles and amphibians, and shows a live map of recent sightings near you.
Does Merlin work on Android?
Yes, Merlin is on both iPhone and Android. Huck is currently iPhone only.
Get Huck field notes
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