Bird
Sound RecordingsBird
Sound RecordingsAfter Binoculars and a good fieldguide, perhaps the next most important item of birding equipment is a set of bird sound recordings. Four products which cover bird sounds of Southern Africa are reviewed here. All of them will add a great deal of value to your birding.
Introduction to birdsound
According to "Better
View Desired", the second fold of better birding is
ears before eyes, eyes before binoculars. When I first started birding
it was a purely visual thing. Birdwatching with more experienced birders
quickly taught me that bird calls are the most easily accessible sensory
clue to the presence of birds - and also to their identity. These days
my birding is very much an auditory thing. There are so many species which
are hard to locate unless you know the calls. Once in a while it is great
to engage in a bit of "sound birding". Simply sit still in one
place, close your eyes and listen - you will be amazed at what you didn't
notice before. Sound recordings are a great field birding aid. Taped calls
can be used to call many species up, or to check difficult identifications.
Often the presence of an unknown species can be pinned down by listening
to the recordings of likely possibilities. Then there are those species
which are usually identified by call - the Fantailed, Desert and the Cloud
Cisticola's being a prime example.
