Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlands

ABSTRACT We conducted a field study to compare the effectiveness of acoustic recordings coupled with automated sound recognition versus traditional point counts in terms of their relative abilities to detect 3 bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The comparison was made in 50 woodlo...

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Main Authors: Stephen B. Holmes, Kenneth A. McIlwrick, Lisa A. Venier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-09-01
Series:Wildlife Society Bulletin
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.421
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author Stephen B. Holmes
Kenneth A. McIlwrick
Lisa A. Venier
author_facet Stephen B. Holmes
Kenneth A. McIlwrick
Lisa A. Venier
author_sort Stephen B. Holmes
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT We conducted a field study to compare the effectiveness of acoustic recordings coupled with automated sound recognition versus traditional point counts in terms of their relative abilities to detect 3 bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The comparison was made in 50 woodlots, each of which contained a standard Forest Bird Monitoring Program plot of 5 point‐count stations. An automated recording device was present at one of the point‐count stations. We found that the automated recording and analysis system worked at least as well as the more traditional point‐count method in identifying woodlots containing acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) and cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), but that both methods combined performed better than either method alone. The automated system also required considerably less effort in the field (a difference of 140 min/woodlot) with very little additional effort identifying vocalizations in the lab (approx. 22.5 min/woodlot, for all 3 species combined). The automated system was not as effective in detecting prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea), possibly because the species is much less common in southern Ontario than the other 2 species. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.
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spelling doaj-art-fabeee43e4414bf98fce9a34c18ad2e42024-12-16T12:21:07ZengWileyWildlife Society Bulletin2328-55402014-09-0138359159810.1002/wsb.421Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlandsStephen B. Holmes0Kenneth A. McIlwrick1Lisa A. Venier2Natural Resources CanadaCanadian Forest Service1219 Queen Street E, Sault Ste.MarieONP6A 2E5CanadaNatural Resources CanadaCanadian Forest Service1219 Queen Street E, Sault Ste.MarieONP6A 2E5CanadaNatural Resources CanadaCanadian Forest Service1219 Queen Street E, Sault Ste.MarieONP6A 2E5CanadaABSTRACT We conducted a field study to compare the effectiveness of acoustic recordings coupled with automated sound recognition versus traditional point counts in terms of their relative abilities to detect 3 bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The comparison was made in 50 woodlots, each of which contained a standard Forest Bird Monitoring Program plot of 5 point‐count stations. An automated recording device was present at one of the point‐count stations. We found that the automated recording and analysis system worked at least as well as the more traditional point‐count method in identifying woodlots containing acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) and cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), but that both methods combined performed better than either method alone. The automated system also required considerably less effort in the field (a difference of 140 min/woodlot) with very little additional effort identifying vocalizations in the lab (approx. 22.5 min/woodlot, for all 3 species combined). The automated system was not as effective in detecting prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea), possibly because the species is much less common in southern Ontario than the other 2 species. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.421acoustic recordingautomated recognitionbird songbird species‐at‐riskpoint countssouthwestern Ontario
spellingShingle Stephen B. Holmes
Kenneth A. McIlwrick
Lisa A. Venier
Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlands
Wildlife Society Bulletin
acoustic recording
automated recognition
bird song
bird species‐at‐risk
point counts
southwestern Ontario
title Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlands
title_full Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlands
title_fullStr Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlands
title_full_unstemmed Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlands
title_short Using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species‐at‐risk in southwestern Ontario woodlands
title_sort using automated sound recording and analysis to detect bird species at risk in southwestern ontario woodlands
topic acoustic recording
automated recognition
bird song
bird species‐at‐risk
point counts
southwestern Ontario
url https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.421
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AT lisaavenier usingautomatedsoundrecordingandanalysistodetectbirdspeciesatriskinsouthwesternontariowoodlands