Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Bird Song Analyzer

Portable field device for the amatuer birder
  (+5, -1)
(+5, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

On our daily walks, my girlfriend and I see and hear many species of birds. What are they? Sure there are field guides and little books but we really need something more useful to start with.

I think a little PDA-like device could be great to help learn how to spot and identify various bird species.

You input your location, and it keeps track of time of day, season, etc.

As you walk in the forest the you tether the little device around your neck and it "listens" to the environment. Using waveform analysis algorythms (oh boy, it's getting deep here) the device separates the birdsong and tells you:

- What kind of birds are in the area
- The name and picture is displayed associated with each birdsong
- The number of those birds in the area
- What direction the songs are coming from (pinpoints and uses GPS to provide relative direction)
- Click a sound icon to listen to the pre-recorded song associated with that bird (just to see if you agree with the device or not) or any other bird in the database
- Other information about the birds such as migratory patterns, eating habits, nesting habitat, mating season data, etc.

You can use the GPS feature as a stand-alone item too for hiking. Probably should also throw a dig. camera in there too.

And of course, it makes hot croissants. :-o

wylie_coyote, Nov 08 2006

my interpretation. twitching_20aid_20for_20beginners
[po, Nov 08 2006]

Digital Bird Song Recognition http://www.cs.corne...ple/messie/bird.htm
[wylie_coyote, Nov 08 2006]

[link]






       I have always wished for this device.   

       (For fun, you could set it to play "Ivory-Billed Woodpecker" over and over and toss it into a tree hole.)
phundug, Nov 08 2006
  

       Po, didn't see your's before but perhaps mine is not entirely a duplication of your invention.
wylie_coyote, Nov 08 2006
  

       You could also carry a cage with one of each bird with you and have the birds all trained to sing when you pull a string attached to its leg, so then when you hear a wild bird you just pull all the strings (make sure they're labeled!!!!!!!!!!!) until you find a bird that makes the same noise..
phundug, Nov 08 2006
  

       I like this! PS: it's a warbler.
jmvw, Nov 08 2006
  
      
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