The sound goes off every morning with a sharp, staccato beep-beep-beep. Our neighbor, Yoka Meyer, thought it was our alarm clock going off. No, it’s a male tufted titmouse greeting the break of day ...

People often ask me what the pretty yellow birds in their yard are (they’re goldfinches). Others inquire about the red ones (house finches, or as the poets and old-timers like to call them, linnets).

Is that the tweet of a titmouse? Or the chirp of a chickadee? After you download the Merlin Bird ID app, you can use your smartphone to identify sounds and match them to the birds in trees nearby and ...