Technology to make bird call recordings

Nature Talk
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Hi, I am interested into making better bird calls and wondering what, if any, technology that people have used and was successful in recording clear bird calls.

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Do you mean what we use while out and about doing whatever one does (hiking, taking out the garbage, during a road trip, walking the dog, doing macro photography on plants in the field), or specifically with the sole purpose of recording bird calls?

The scenarios in my view:

  1. Casual recording = most common occurrence for me. My phone is with me all the time, hence it is also my preferred recording device, running the app BirdNet developed by university folks at Chemnitz in Germany: https://birdnet.cornell.edu/ . Just tap the icon, it launches and immediately starts recording, no need to navigate anywhere within the app first to get to the nitty-gritty. Shows sonogram as it records. Allows identification, contains links to Wikipedia, Merlin and eBird if you want to research further, and the saved sound files can be accessed easily from the phone’s file manager.

  2. More serious recording = much rarer for me. I need to be very determined to that one task. Same as above, but in combination with an external directional microphone (of the kind normally used for videographing, similar to the Rode combos), occasionally on top of an extension pole to get closer to what I want to record. Settings in the app vary in combination with the settings for the microphone. I am using the stuff I already own. Alternatively, one could get other gear as explained here: https://www.audubon.org/news/a-beginners-guide-recording-bird-vocalizations

  3. Stationary recording: https://arbimon.org/ I have one such recorder.

  4. The Serious Stuff, which I don’t do: https://acousticnature.com/journal/best-way-to-record-birdsong-gear-guide-tips

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Thing just for recording purposes

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Many people use directional microphones like the Zoom H4n Pro or parabolic microphones for clear bird call recordings. Paired with a good recorder, these mics help isolate bird sounds from background noise. Some also use apps like Merlin to assist with identification. What type of environment are you recording in?

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