BirdAudio has recently launched voice-activated bird song software. The company has invested in bird songs and voice recognition. Therefore, the purpose of this blog is to build on this, invite discussions on these subject and as well as posting my birding thoughts and experiences. Comments are welcome from all.
During the conceptional phase of the idea I spoke with others about the concept and the most common suggestion was that it would be far better to listen to the song and have the software say the name of the bird. I must agree. It would also be nice if when you saw a bird you could not identify he would turn aroung and show a sign with his species. The biggest drawback to this approach is the size of the equipment. Think of those big dishes at football games that collect sound. One could not easily carry it into the field. In fact, a company called, Wildlife Acoustics did develop such a system. They stopped production in 2006. I do not know all of the reasons for the stoppage but size might have been one factor.
However, speaking into a microphone does not require any large piece of equipment. So, BirdAudio was developed using a "field guide" approach. That is, one has to put a name to the bird and then verify by using the software. Just as with a field guide one has to know about where to look for a picture of a bird before confirming the name of the bird a user must guess the correct bird and then confirm with the BirdAudio software buy saying the bird's name.
First, a little background on my comings and goings. I spend spring and fall in my home in Hot Springs Village AR. Summers and winters are in Southern California with my children and grandchildren. When talking to friends often the first question is, "Where are you?" As it is now January I am in SoCal.
At our property in CA we are lucky to have numerous mature fruit trees. Our lime tree is a prodigious producer. Even if I were an alcoholic drinking Corona with limes I could not consume or give away all of the limes the tree drops. However, there is a food bank nearby that happily takes the limes and gives them to needy people. In return I get any bread too old to give away to their clients. Twice a day I put out bread for the birds and have attracted a swarm of winter migrants to the feed. The most common birds at this time of year are White-crowned sparrows and Dark-eyed juncos. There are a few mammals that enjoy the bread too. The most common are the rabbits and ground squirrels but occasionally a fox squirrel shows up. Today, there was a hermit thrush eating some of the seeds from a nearby laurel.
There is one remaining bird walk the the San Fernando Valley Audubon will be leading. On Jan. 27 at 8:00 am there will be a walk at Descanso Gardens. Go to http://www.sfvaudubon.org/ for information on future walks. The Los Angeles chapter of Audubon is planning a trip to the Salton Sea, Jan 26 and 27. Go to http://www.laaudubon.org/ for more details. Finally, the Pasadena Audubon will have a walk at the Huntington Library on Jan. 27. Go to http://www.pasadenaaudubon.org/ for all Pasadena activities.
