Who who who who's my bird
May 29, 2024 9:34 AM Subscribe
I managed to get a recording of a bird. I want to identify it. I don't want to download an app to my phone. Is there a website that will allow me to upload the recording and tell me who is hanging around the yard?
Or I'm willing to crowdsource MeFi for opinions if people want to let me know the best place to upload the very short audio recording.
Right now, the best recording is living on my computer. It's an edited version that eliminates much of the dead audio space between calls.
Or I'm willing to crowdsource MeFi for opinions if people want to let me know the best place to upload the very short audio recording.
Right now, the best recording is living on my computer. It's an edited version that eliminates much of the dead audio space between calls.
iNaturalist is a good bet here. I hope you upload the recording and then link to it here, so that we can listen to it!
You'll also be contributing, via iNaturalist, to knowledge of the species in your area.
Here is an observation I made that was identified solely from a recording - the eastern narrowmouth toad! (My own first guess was "sheep frog", which turns out to be a real species, but in South America).
posted by amtho at 10:05 AM on May 29 [4 favorites]
You'll also be contributing, via iNaturalist, to knowledge of the species in your area.
Here is an observation I made that was identified solely from a recording - the eastern narrowmouth toad! (My own first guess was "sheep frog", which turns out to be a real species, but in South America).
posted by amtho at 10:05 AM on May 29 [4 favorites]
If you have a birding group in your area, they might have a designated bird nerd to answer questions, e.g. Bird Alliance of Oregon (formerly Portland Audubon).
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:06 AM on May 29
posted by spamandkimchi at 10:06 AM on May 29
Who knows, maybe Google Lens / Gemini can figure it out, if it's clear enough.
posted by kschang at 10:23 AM on May 29
posted by kschang at 10:23 AM on May 29
Response by poster: Merlin only works by downloading an app to the phone, which is specifically what I don't want to do. It's also the first place I looked before deciding to post.
Both xeno and iNaturalist require membership sign up, which I could probably do, but I don't really feel like it, just for one bird call.
Nobody has yet suggested a place that would be suitable for uploading the audio-only recording and sharing it.
amtho if you already have an iNaturalist account and feel like uploading my recording, I can email it to you. (It's just a few seconds, so the file isn't too big, and I can zip it to make it smaller.
posted by sardonyx at 11:02 AM on May 29
Both xeno and iNaturalist require membership sign up, which I could probably do, but I don't really feel like it, just for one bird call.
Nobody has yet suggested a place that would be suitable for uploading the audio-only recording and sharing it.
amtho if you already have an iNaturalist account and feel like uploading my recording, I can email it to you. (It's just a few seconds, so the file isn't too big, and I can zip it to make it smaller.
posted by sardonyx at 11:02 AM on May 29
Best answer: Maybe birdnet.cornell.edu
I haven't tried it, but I have tried the app and it works well.
posted by All Out of Lulz at 11:11 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
I haven't tried it, but I have tried the app and it works well.
posted by All Out of Lulz at 11:11 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
If you upload it here and tell me the location where it was recorded, I will see if Merlin can ID it for you since I have the Merlin app.
posted by eleslie at 11:18 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
posted by eleslie at 11:18 AM on May 29 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: All Out of Lulz: Thank you. That's exactly the kind of site I was hoping to find. Great-horned owl seems to be the overwhelming species probability returned by the site.
There have never been owls around here, but I've been hearing this bird (or its friends and family members) for a couple of years now. My family members think it sounds like the mourning doves that are resident here, but I'm sure it is some other bird.
That said, I'm up for seeing what other sites/people have to say about its identity.
posted by sardonyx at 11:20 AM on May 29
There have never been owls around here, but I've been hearing this bird (or its friends and family members) for a couple of years now. My family members think it sounds like the mourning doves that are resident here, but I'm sure it is some other bird.
That said, I'm up for seeing what other sites/people have to say about its identity.
posted by sardonyx at 11:20 AM on May 29
Upload a video to YouTube of you imitating the bird, post a link here, and we'll identify the loon (or whatever it might be).
posted by pracowity at 11:27 AM on May 29
posted by pracowity at 11:27 AM on May 29
A distinguishing characteristic of owls (at least, of my backyard great horned owls) is that crows HATE them. So if you also hear the sound of a furious mob of crows once a day or so, that's additional support for your owl ID.
posted by eraserbones at 11:49 AM on May 29 [4 favorites]
posted by eraserbones at 11:49 AM on May 29 [4 favorites]
There’s a Facebook group that’s called What’s this bird? - American Birding Association (ABA) that will be happy to make some guesses.
posted by oomny at 1:56 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]
posted by oomny at 1:56 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]
Best answer: iNaturalist people are quick sometimes!
posted by amtho at 5:19 PM on May 29 [2 favorites]
posted by amtho at 5:19 PM on May 29 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: That's two votes for great-horned owl. I'm marking this one resolved. Thanks so much amtho and All Out of Lulz. Also thanks to eleslie.
posted by sardonyx at 5:30 PM on May 29
posted by sardonyx at 5:30 PM on May 29
Response by poster: And for anybody who wants to hear the owl, the audio file is available at amtho's link directly above.
posted by sardonyx at 6:42 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]
posted by sardonyx at 6:42 PM on May 29 [1 favorite]
More news from the iNaturalist posting. sardonyx's audio observation has been added to the Audio Observations from Around the World and Owls of the World projects by their curators.
In addition, the ID of great horned owl has been endorsed three more times.
Congratulations sardonyx!
posted by amtho at 9:46 AM on May 30 [1 favorite]
In addition, the ID of great horned owl has been endorsed three more times.
Congratulations sardonyx!
posted by amtho at 9:46 AM on May 30 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks amtho. That all sounds impressive. I'm not sure what it actually means or how the information can be used, but if it helps, then that's great. And since I benefited from the identification (its nice to know my instincts were right that it was an owl of some sort), then it's a fair trade. Thanks again for your assistance.
posted by sardonyx at 1:52 PM on May 30
posted by sardonyx at 1:52 PM on May 30
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posted by jocelmeow at 9:57 AM on May 29