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AvianActs: Passive Acoustic Monitoring

Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) in the field of bioacoustics is a non-intrusive method for gaining insight into aquatic and terrestrial life. Applications include species distributions and impact of climate change on the populations of endangered species.

Bird watchers often identify species by listening to their vocalizations. Our attempt is to identify individuals of a bird species from their unique song patterns and to learn more about their behaviors and movements without capturing and banding. We are leveraging software tools developed for PAM for detailed song analysis and identification.





In the spring and summer of 2023, we recorded the time at which each bird species initiated singing before and immediately after sunrise in my Home 'Patch'. We found that some species were well tuned to sunrise throughout the breeding season. For an overview
For an overview " DawnChorus_overview"
Read more " DawnChorus"


Can we definitely identify a Wood Thrush from his repertoire? We applied the methodology developed by us earlier to the Wood Thrushes singing in my Home 'patch' in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023
Read more on " Return of a Wood Thrush in My Home ‘Patch’? "


Northern Cardinals are common in the eastern USA and their songs are heard all spring and summer. His slurred whistles are produced by switching from one syrinx to the other, using his two voice boxes unique to some birds. We recorded a young Cardinal learning to sing in early spring and analyzed his progress.
Read more on "A Northern Cardinal Learning to Sing"


From audio recordings of a Wood Thrush singing during the breeding season in the home 'patch' we were able to identify his unique song patterns, different from several other Wood Thrushes in the northeastern United States.
Read more on "The Repertoire of a Wood Thrush in My Home ‘Patch’ "