birding-aus

Morcombe vs. Pizzey app sounds

To: David Adams <>, Birding Aus <>
Subject: Morcombe vs. Pizzey app sounds
From: Denise Goodfellow <>
Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 11:51:09 +0930
Sometimes written descriptions can be helpful.  In "Birds of Australia's Top
End" I described the call of Black-tailed Treecreeper as sounding like
someone "whistling with his head down a toilet bowl".  I remember that Keith
Betton didn't get the connection, but his wife Esther certainly did, and she
found the bird based on that call!
Denise
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
PO Box 71,  Darwin River,
NT 0841
043 8650 835



On 27/11/13 9:42 PM, "David Adams" <> wrote:

>> It is indeed very unfair David,
> 
> Honestly, I wasn't being super serious. I'm sure it is enormously difficult
> to translate bird sounds into textual descriptions. If others have
> benefited from these impressionistic transcriptions (such as the lovely
> poetic one you site), so much the better. Saddly for me, they don't help
> and I'd rather have seen the space in paper guides devoted to information
> on nesting and behavior. In electronic guides, space is not at a premium
> and sounds can be included. In time, I'm sure that we'll also see sonograms
> in electronic guides as a matter of course.
> 
> It seems like time again to say thank you to the handful of dedicated
> recordists in Australia that have captured the high-quality recordings
> we're talking about (and those that aren't in these aps). It seems like
> very hard work...I can only imagine the number of hours that must go into
> getting a good recording. So, thank you to everyone that's shared good
> recordings - commercially or through the academic and public sites.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 11:02 PM, Andrew Bell <> wrote:
> 
>> It is indeed very unfair David,
>> 
>> I've always loved Graham Pizzey's white throated gerygone song:
>> 
>> "beautiful silvery falling leaf song in a minor key..." - I knew it as
>> soon as I heard it -and I'm glad those descriptions are still there in the
>> e-version. (It's also the bird I choose when demonstrating Morcombe on my
>> phone)
>> 
>> Andrew Bell
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 27/11/2013, at 5:13 PM, David Adams <> wrote:
>> 
>>> I've been trying out the sounds on the Pizzey app and comparing them with
>>> the Morcombe app here and there. Today I tried out the calls for Forest
>> and
>>> Sacred Kingfishers on both apps. What I've been finding with my random
>>> sampling is that the collection of calls are often complimentary. If I
>> had
>>> to pick one app based on pictures, it would be Pizzey. If I had to pick
>> one
>>> on sounds...it would be tough. David Stewart's recordings on Morcombe are
>>> excellent, as everyone knows. (I particularly like it that the natural
>> gaps
>>> are left in place.) Then again, the Morcombe app often has a wide range
>> of
>>> calls.
>>> 
>>> So, if you can only manage to get one app...I'm not sure...but if you can
>>> get both, you'll probably be glad of it.
>>> 
>>> Unless you don't like apps, in which case, you can stick to the field
>> guide
>>> transcriptions of sounds. "LIke a box of marbles falling down stairs
>>> covered in maple syrup-EEEH-WOOH...falling away on the second note."
>> That's
>>> not quite fair, but I can't say that I've ever found a written sound
>>> description of any help.
>>> ===============================
>>> 
>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>> send the message:
>>> unsubscribe
>>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>>> to: 
>>> 
>>> http://birding-aus.org
>>> ===============================
>> 
> ===============================
> 
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to: 
> 
> http://birding-aus.org
> ===============================


===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU