Learning about various bird species takes serious study. So many birds are so similar to each other that it takes a real pro to decipher the nuances that can distinguish one species from another. Take, for example, the Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, two very similar birds distinguishable by size difference (the Greater Yellowlegs is over 3 inches more in length than the 10 inch Lesser Yellowlegs) and beak size. The beak of the Greater is noticeably longer than its head and the beak of the Lesser is about the length of its head. But at a distance, and when the bird is by itself, it can be difficult to be sure of the correct identification, especially for me. I have long relied on a digital version of The Sibley Guide to Birds on my phone but more recently, The Cornell Lab’s Merlin has been an exceptional aid in facilitating the identity of birds by both the bird’s call and the bird’s photograph. How cool is that? Hear a bird call and don’t know the bird? Pull out the Merlin app on your phone and it listens and identifies the birds it hears. Take a photo of the bird and the app finds possible matches. What’s so great is that unlike the sound ID, the picture ID can happen at the end of the day after you’ve downloaded your photos to your computer. Take a photograph of the screen and instantaneously, Merlin comes up with possibilities. In this case, it’s a Lesser Yellowlegs. The beak is about the length of its head.