Does anyone on this forum have experience recording songs for immediate playback in the field to attract songbirds? If so, please share your experiences with “pocket bird recording”.
My limited experience has been with recordings that others have made. In the past I used a portable CD player; now I use my iPhone with Apps such as BirdTunes (the attached image is a BirdTunes screenshot).
It seems like a hassle to have to carry a microphone in addition to the iPhone. However, some microphones such as the Edutige EIM-003 are pretty small.
Is pocket bird recording really better than playback of pre-recorded songs for attracting birds?
Does it make a big difference on some birds and none on others?
Are there any down sides to it other than the hassle?
Thanks for any thoughts you might have on this.
01-22-2014, 01:07 AM
arash_hazeghi
I sometimes use calls to attract harriers (same app). It sure depends on the bird, some birds respond to calls some usually don't
02-07-2014, 06:12 PM
Cal Walters
The apps have bird vocalizations from a variety of geographic locations. I have noticed that some birds would not react to a vocalization type from one geography, but would to the same type of vocalization from another geography (closer to the actual location). I stumbled on this by using the calls from different apps and noted differing types of responses. My guess - purely that - is that if a bird is vocalizing in an area and another bird is present and it sounds similar, it is more likely to get a reaction. So if you have the set up to capture the call and categorize it and playback for future use - it would be more successful. That being said, there are times when nobodys reactin' to nothin'. time of year seems to be a big indicator.