I have installed merlin and try to identify it. But it is too confusing! Probably is that I have never seen a robin and a crow. Are there any tropical birds out of Canada or the United States that can measure the same as a robin or crow? And, are grassquits bigger or smaller than sparrows? Thank you for any help.
The best way for you to approach this is probably to think of some birds you are familiar with, then look up their size measurements and compare them to the four birds used in Merlin. Sparrows are about 12-17 cm, robins are 20-28 cm, crows are 40-53 cm, and geese are 76-110 cm. Saffron finches are 13.5 cm, so that is a good one for approximately sparrow-sized. Grassquits are smaller than sparrows. Ruddy ground doves are 16.5-18 cm, which is slightly smaller than a robin but is probably close enough. The goal of the size chart is not to figure out the exact measurement of your bird, just to get an approximate size. We're halfway there! Now just think of some medium and large birds you know, and continue the process. Once you have your four birds selected, the next time you use Merlin think of your own four when looking at the size chart to place your mystery bird. And of course if you get a photo you can upload that to Photo ID without answering the size question.
Thank you for the help. Does it work with ruddy ground doves? There is another problem I have never seen gulls. But does the sparrow sized works with saffron finches?
Do you have mourning doves where you live? They're robin-sized: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id
Do you have ring-billed gulls? They're crow-sized:https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-billed_Gull/maps-range
If you're able to find species that live in your area on Allaboutbirds, you can click on the "ID info" tab, and there you will see the bird described on the "relative size" chart like this:
