I reckon a gadget like that described for ID'ing bird calls would take a
lot of fun out of birding. Being able to ID a bird by its call is almost
as good as seeing the bird and can save an awful lot of time otherwise
looking for something making a noise which you don't recognise. I too
am losing my top end frequency hearing but I can just still hear
grasswrens etc. It's also somewhat gratifying when a less acoustically
astute birder asks what a particular call might be and you are able to
give a fairly confident suggestion which turns out to be correct once
the bird is seen. Be nice to also have telescopic eyes and save on the
expense of binos.
Tony Russell
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Peter Ewin
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 8:54 AM
To:
Subject: Song Sleuth
I believe that it will take longer than 5 years before this technology
is
really seful for birds. Analysis of bat echolocation (Anabat) has been
around since the early nineties, and still requires interpretation by an
experienced person to get calls correct, and some species , such as
long-eared bats (Nyctophilus) still can't be separated. Many calls can
only
be identified to probable or possible level as well. The technology with
this has advanced remarkedly in the last 5 years, but I think many of
the
IDs done in the past, could be classed as dubious at the least.
Admittedly part of the problem is the lack of reference calls for
comparison, particularly across the whole distribution of all species.
Recording bats isn't like birds where you can do the recording and then
track down the bird for ID. Also they probably have different calls for
feeding and alarm, so when recorded after being released, is probably
not a
typical call for all species.
The database required for birds across the entire country is likely to
be
huge, some species will be easy to identify by a computer, though these
are
probably also likely to be easy to identiy by ear and if like doing bat
work, much comparison is done by comparing sonographs visually.
Anyway the idea is a good one, but I wait for the binoculars that have a
database of identifyting features and automatically calculate what
species
you are looking at and put a litle text label at the top of your view.
Cheers,
Peter
>From: "Hugo Phillipps" <>
>Reply-To: "Hugo Phillipps" <>
>To: <>
>Subject: Re: [BIRDING-AUS] Song Sleuth
>Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 23:41:51 +1000
>
>[BIRDING-AUS] Re: Song SleuthHi everybody -
>
>I see no reason in principle why such a device shouldn't be able to
work
>well, if it has a comprehensive library of bird calls to compare, and
after
>any initial bugs have been eliminated. It's been done for years with
>microbats. Of course birdsong is much more complex than the
echolocation
>calls of bats, and there are potential problems with mimicry and
regional
>dialects, but I can easily imagine that 'call identifiers' - at half
the
>price and a third the weight of the early example cited - will be
available
>for Australian birds within five years. I don't see them as a threat
in
>any way. They may make bird surveys somewhat simpler, although they
can
>only complement visual ID - not replace it. Birders with hearing
>difficulties may welcome them - and not everyone is adept at learning
to
>recognise calls. After, all, you don't have to use them if they offend
>your purist sensibilities.
>
>And thanks to Peter for bringing this to our notice.
>
>Cheers,
>Hugo
>
>Hugo Phillipps
>Queenscliff, Vic
>No virus found in this outgoing message.
>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
>Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.7.10/25 - Release Date:
2005-06-21
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