Recording Wild Bird Sounds 🐦
After I first got a portable audio recorder a few years ago, I became interested in capturing as many interesting sounds as I could. Soon after, I heard a bird singing loudly outside my window, so I started recording. With a bit of googling, I found that the sound was made by a Eurasian Blackbird (a common bird here in England). Though the recording suffered from loud traffic sounds nearby, I was pleased to have captured the bird's song. I didn't know it at the time, but this was the start of a long term passion of mine. A few years later, I have now captured countless Blackbird songs, and the sounds of many other species!
In 2022, I started actively seeking out birdsong in my hometown and collecting as many recordings as I could. By going on regular walks in my hometown and elsewhere, I was able to gather enough sounds to compile into my first collection of bird sounds - "European Birds". I released the library on Asoundeffect and it sold fairly well right away, which gave me some encouragement to keep making more sound libraries. It was rewarding to see that people were interested in a product which I had made on my own, and that I had enjoyed making.
As I started out with a minimal knowledge of bird identification, it was fairly challenging to figure out what species I had recorded in many cases. This isn't helped by the fact that birds are often easier to hear than to see. Whilst working on my first birds sound library, I largely used websites like bird-sounds.net and YouTube to search for birds which seemed to be similar to what I'd expect to have made the sound, then kept looking until I found sounds which matched the recordings I had made. Fortunately I have since found some tools which make the process much easier!
Probably the most useful tool for bird sound identification is an app called Merlin. If you turn on the app and it hears a short snippet of a bird sound, it is often able to identify the bird. This helps enormously with identifying birds while out and about. It also takes into account your location and rules out birds that aren't local to you. If Merlin has made an identification of a bird you are recording, it helps for you to say the bird's name so that it is captured in your recording so that you can easily label the recording later on. It should certainly be noted that Merlin is not always accurate, so it is often worth double checking your recordings.
If you're at a computer and have access to audio files you've recorded, you can alternatively use BirdNET. This doesn't rule out non-local birds, so can give some slightly less helpful results than Merlin. It also seems to require a particularly clean recording to work effectively, but it can be very helpful in a pinch.
Another very helpful website is ebird.org. This allows users to log what birds they see, and allows you to search for birding hotspots or specific species. Many of my best recordings were taken at locations that I had never heard of until I saw them on eBird, so it has been tremendously useful to me. And audio recording aside, eBird is also a great way to find nice places for a day out.
Throughout 2023, I gradually produced my second sound library of birds: European Birds 2. Below, I will share some stories of the process. The photos that accompany my recordings were taken by my late mother, who loved spotting birds herself.
First up: the Eurasian Blackbird. I made a few unattended overnight recordings to capture the dawn chorus in springtime, and it appears that a blackbird perched on top of the windproof dome I made to cover the microphone. This resulted in a very loud and clear sound of the blackbird, at a much closer distance than I could ever hope to capture deliberately!
The windproof dome in question is rather unglamourous but surprisingly effective! I made it by taking a dome shaped plant hanger and taping some J cloth to it.
Next is the Eurasian Wren. These are quite easy to identify from sound if you remember that their song mostly consists of groups of rapidly repeating notes. They are also notoriously loud!
I actually didn't have so much luck while deliberately trying to record Wrens. However, there were several occasions where they interrupted my recordings of other birds, so I was able to gather plenty of Wren songs for the sound library.
Here is a European Goldfinch. This is definitely one of my favourite sounding birds. They have a fairly distinct call when they are flying around, so they are reasonably easy to spot.
Often they are found in groups, so I struggled to get isolated recordings of just one at a time, especially with traffic noise making matters worse. But I managed to get plenty of recordings of the many different sounds they make during my unattended dawn chorus recordings!
Great Tits seem quite fond of a nesting box in my garden, as they have used it as a nest for a few consecutive years. A few days after the chicks hatch, you can often hear them making very cute sounds, especially if their mother has just returned from finding food for them.
I managed to get some recordings by setting up a microphone while she was away. This is the sound of probably around 3 chicks, a little younger than the one pictured.
Grey Wagtails are a personal favourite of mine. In spring 2023 I found what I believe to be a nesting site not far from where I live. They were reliably always there whenever I went to look for them, allowing me to capture lots of clear recordings!
Though I have already released two sound libraries of birds, I have no intention of stopping! I'm still regularly recording birds and seeking out new species to add to my list.