Thank you everyone for all of your help. Please let me know if I am not =
responding in the correct format. I just now got an email with all of your=
responses and I greatly appreciate all the help.
To answer Rob's question:
I think it is ok if they react to my presence somewhat. I am interest=
ed in studying the effects of broadcast surveys on rails so I will be broad=
casting their call and recording how they respond (usually from a kayak on =
a pond with a wetland fringe). Broadcast surveys are the main way that peo=
ple are getting estimates of rail population densities and I am interested =
in trying to determine gender from their calls so I can determine what the =
ratio of male:female responders is for these surveys.
I will note visual behaviors if I see them but it's not really somethin=
g I was planning on (although it would definately be interesting!). I will=
be doing the broadcast surveys while they are nesting so it would be possi=
bly to set up a camera somehow to get visuals too on what they are doing on=
the nest while calling.
I am a little worried about background noise because it is usually very=
windy at my sites and there are also lots of other birds calling (marsh wr=
ens, blackbirds, etc). I can get within 1-3 meters of the birds usually wi=
th my kayak when they are calling although sometimes it is difficult to pin=
point exactly where they will call from within those 3 meters (sometimes th=
ey run around in the thick vegetation---so you can't see them---and then ca=
ll from a short distance away). The vegetation is so thick that I rarely s=
ee them while they are calling.
The final application of the sounds would mostly be to attempt to determi=
ne gender differences (differences in frequency would be the most likely bu=
t I would also look at rate, loudness, legnth of call, etc). I am thinking =
that I will do so by making spectragram's of the calls and analyzing those =
(any input into this would be very much appreciated too...I am definitely n=
ew to this).
Thank you again to everyone for the help! I'm really glad I found out ab=
out this listserve! I'm excited to begin recording these calls (I think I'=
m already addicted!). I recorded a bunch last summer with my cheap digital =
camera but there was too much background noise from the wind and other bird=
s to hear the songs very well. I would like to try to make spectrograms of=
these calls but have had trouble finding free softward to do so. I tried S=
yrinx and Ravenview (Cornell lab of Ornithology) but was a little dissapoin=
ted because I couldn't figure out how to get frequency in Hz on the spectro=
gram.
Thanks again,
Ellen
--- In Ellen Robertson <> =
wrote:
>
> Hi Nature Recordists
> I am a graduate student at the University of Maine studying
> Virginia rails and soras (wetland birds) and I am interested in
> recording and studying their songs as a part of my project. Do you
> have any recommendations for fairly cheap but decent recording
> equipment? The birds I am studying call from very wet, thick wetland
> vegetation. I can get within about 1-2 meters of them calling. Do
> you have any recommendations on whether t
> use a parabolic or a shotgun mic? For the recorder I am looking at
> the Edirol R-09...do you have opinions on this one or recommendations
> for others? If I did a shotgun mic I was looking at the AudioTechnica
> AT835 or the Azden Sgm-2X. Any recommendations/suggestionson these?
> I have also been reading about phantom power and am a little confused
> about this and if I need it or not. Do you know?
> Thanks so much for any help you're able to give! I really appreciate =
it!!
> Sincerely,
> Ellen Robertson
>
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