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Merlin
Maybe you think that birding is for old people, an activity for retired, khaki-clad nerds. I don’t entirely blame you, because that’s what I used to think, too. But hear me out: Learning to identify the birds you see on your hikes or at your backyard bird feeder is an easy and rewarding way to start engaging with the natural world on a level that’s more than cosmetic, and a blow against the nature-blindness that’s epidemic in America today. The easiest way to do it is with Merlin, a free app developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Feed it a few easy data points what color was the bird, how big was it, and where and when did you see it or just snap a photo and it will spit out its best guess as to what it was, complete with pictures, description, and other possible identifications. Will it turn you into the kind of person who has a Double-Rainbow-Guy-level meltdown every time you see a Steller’s jay? That’s up to you.