Subject: [Tweeters] Recording birdsong
Date: Aug 29 14:15:28 2006
From: Josh Hayes - josh at blarg.net


Marc Hoffman wrote:

> An afterthought to my first response: If you can pick up an
> inexpensive sound recorder, you can then record the calls you're
> unsure of, while in the wild, and check your hunches later. Many
> digital cameras will record with adequate fidelity to allow later
> identification. And there are several devices under $200 (I-River,
> for instance) that would be better for that purpose, though you won't
> get CD quality from anything in that price range, just audio good
> enough for ID purposes.

I've often thought of doing this; while I have an excellent musical ear, I
don't seem to be able to keep the birdsongs straight!

Many's the time I've heard something, thought, "Oh, aggh, that's so
familiar, it's a, a, uh....what the heck is that?" And then I KNEW if the
tweets heard it dozens of you would instantly say "Yellow warbler", or
whatever it is.

If I were to make some such recordings (probably not until next spring; the
only birds around now who are really singing are our ferocious Bewick's
wrens, and I know that one), does anyone have a suggestion for where I might
put them so people could chime in? Do people here read alt.binaries.birds,
for instance?

-Josh Hayes, josh at blarg.net