Birding by Ear

Becoming intensively popular among the blind, birding by ear entails listening to and identifying the songs and cries of the birds all around a person. Many sighted people go birdwatching, but they recognize birds by plumage and flight patterns and often don’t even try to identify the sounds the birds make. Birding by ear is a hobby that anyone can do, sighted or blind, and is, in my opinion, lots of fun!

While visiting my Cajun family in Louisiana, I decided to check out what birds were in the area and learn their songs. Turning on my iPhone, I went to the iBird app and searched for birds in Louisiana, whose habitat was urban, lakes or ponds, or swamps and marshes, all close to the environment where my aunt lives. Adding the “frequent backyard feeder” option, I narrowed the choices down to twenty-nine birds. Some were simple, such as the blue jay and the Northern mockingbird, both of which we have in North Carolina. Others were new, such as the evening grosbeak and the American kestrel. For each bird, there was a description of what they look like, where they live, and their flight patterns and nesting habits. However, what I was really interested in was the “Speakers” tab, which brings up a recording of the bird’s song or cry. I listened to about half of the birds listed as search results, then went for an evening walk with my aunt and my boyfriend. Along the walk, I was able to point out the songs of many birds. My aunt was quite impressed, saying I recognized many more birds then she knew there were in her area. It was a very enjoyable walk as they quickly picked up on the sounds I pointed out to them, and we heard a few that we looked up later.

The iBird app is a great tool for sighted and blind birders alike. It is available for both IOS and Android phones, and has different costs depending on the app you purchase. For example, there is an iBird Lite that you can try for free, but the iBird Yard Plus, which has almost a thousand bird species, costs $9.99 (for Android) and the iBird Pro version is $19.99 in iTunes. This app was recommended by Scientific American magazine in 2012 and voted by IOS users as the best birding app.

Don’t have a smart phone? No problem! Go to the iBird website, where you can do much of the same things as in the app. Search for birds in your area, birds of a particular size or color, or just browse the many birds. Each bird page has an overview of the bird, description of its plumage, flight patterns, and nesting habits, pictures of the bird, and my favourite part, a recording of the bird’s songs. It also has convservation notes that I haven’t found on the app, describing its status and why it has that status. For example, the Acadian flycatcher is of “least concern” because it has a wide range and a large population.

Birding by ear has become a favourite activity of mine, and I hope I have inspired you to give it a try and try out iBird as well! Happy birding!