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Hi All,
I know that some people use audio played from mp3 players to attract birds to suitable perches etc. I am doing some workshops on Eastern bird song ID this winter and offering a tour in western Newfoundland later in the spring. I was wondering if ayone knows where bird sond mp3's can be purchased or downloaded online?
Thanks in adance for any and all replies
Dave Brown
Dave here is what I use, its the stokes CD system
http://www.birdjam.com/product_info....products_id=30
then I picked up birdjam to load it on the ipod, I tried it on zune but it didnt work so well, it was not worth the hassle of trying to get it to work instead of just buying the cheap ipod
http://www.birdjam.com/product_info....products_id=28
I picked up a cheap refurb 4GB ipod nano from ebay, and this speaker system and it works great, its not overbearing loud but you can turn it up so its louder than the real bird sounds so they can hear it further away.
http://www.birdjam.com/product_info....products_id=74
alternatively you can pickup a pre loaded one http://www.birdjam.com/index.php?cPath=23 it costs a few bucks more I think but might save some time
You can see pictures of the birds on the ipods as well which is sometimes helpful if you are not quite sure what it is. On the smaller ipod thats a little difficult but if you have a touch it would be better for sure.
as far as getting birds so far it seems to work really good
The only thing I wish for is what calls the birds are making, you know like calling for help, or a defensive call, it seems that some of them intrigue the bird but then it seems to scare them, I have a red bellied woodpecker and she will come but then it seems to spook her. It would be nice to have the bird and then under that the different calls its making so you know, I have pretty much figured out for the woodpecker the first portion of the song is ok but the second part must be a defensive part and I stop it before it gets there.
If my feeder is out of food I usually go out and fill it and play a chickadee song and usually within a few mins I have a whole bunch of birds coming.
Its not exactly a cheap system but there are a boatload of birds, every bird that I have ever seen is on this CD. I got the Stokes CD's and the speaker system from Amazon it was a little cheaper, and like I mentioned the Ipod from ebay. Alternatively you can also make all the wav files into mp3's but then you have the create the lists and stuff yourself, I tried that but said screw it the 50 bucks for the software is worth it :)
I dont recall seeing a birds in NFLD that are not on it either. I didnt have it the few times when I was in NFLD this year so I never used it there. I am from NFLD originally so I still have a ton of family there :)
Dave:Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Brown
If you have an iPod Touch, download the iBird Plus App ($20). Its got all of the birds of North America (including Canada) with multiple photos and their song recordings. Attach mini speakers to the iPod and you're in business.
Norm
I use iBird with my iPhone with great success. In the past I used both the Peterson CD's and the National Geographic CD's. The results are the same, but the current system is more compact, cheaper, and the results are the same or even better.
The Cornell website has audio files for most birds but I don't know if you can download them: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetComm....aspx?pid=1189
Hey Guys,
Thanks for the replies. I like the IPOD idea,since I will probably want to use these occasionally in the field as well and $20 sounds pretty reasonable to me! Plus gives me a great excuse to get an iPOD touch.
Dave
What kind of speaker do you guys use? where do you get them?
You can get them at Best Buy, Radio shack, or online. Any speaker system that uses an 1/8" mini plug will work with the iPhone/iPod Touch etc. The speakers should be self powered, meaning they run off of "AA," "C" or "D" cells. Also get about 50 to 100 Ft of extension cable if you're planning to use the calls to attract birds.
