A NEW FRONTIER FOR BIRD SCIENCE
It’s early May, and I stand at one of my favorite birding corners half a mile from my house. American Robins chirrup like crazy, and the calls of Canada Geese, a Northern Flicker, and a Song Sparrow come at me from different directions. But more birds are out there. I can hear them even though my crappy ears and aging brain can’t parse what they might be. “Ah,” I think. “Let’s try the app.”
I pull out my phone, punch a couple of buttons, and record a short snippet of sound. Then I press “Analyze.” After a delay of several seconds, two species’ names appear. The first is Cedar Waxwing. That doesn’t surprise me since I can look up and see six of them perched in a tree. The second name does surprise me: Yellow-rumped Warbler. I haven’t been able to detect that one, but now that I’m alerted to its presence, I listen specifically for it and — shazam — its sweet spring song quickly penetrates my awareness. The discovery puts a bounce in my step, and not just because I’ve heard the warbler. It’s because I feel myself standing at the threshold of dramatically new birding possibilities.
Birding Disruptor
The app I’ve just tested is called BirdNET, and its purpose is simple: to use the vocalizations of birds to identify them. Birdsong apps, of course, are not new. In my February 2021 article on song apps, I reviewed several designed to help birders recognize what we’re hearing around us. Two things set BirdNET apart from it analyzes bird vocalizations. The second is the astonishing degree of accuracy that it achieves. In the parlance of modern business, these features establish BirdNET as a disruptive technology for birders and scientists alike.
