Directional microphone for locating a bird

[Robert S]

I'm thinking of trying to locate the Whip birds next door using one of these

NUZAMAS Parabolic Dish Directional Microphone​

I have no knowledge of sound gear whatsoever. Not wanting to get good quality just locate the bird.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[soundbyte]

You might check out Mike Lane who has a YouTube video on using thermal imaging cameras to search for birds.
In my opinion video would be more accurate than using audio to search.
His preferred equipment is from 6:16 in that video.

 

[AlanB313]

I don't know if this is helpful, but ebird and the Macauley sound lab have good explanations about recording equipment for recording birds. They are of course targeting folks who want to make high quality recordings, but some of the info could be helpful.

I'd love to do some of this but it's another gear hurdle.

In my limited knowledge, the directional parabolic microphone seems like the best for your purposes but perhaps other equipment could work better, maybe thermal cameras, like someone else just mentioned?

Choosing recording gear

To make wildlife recordings, you’ll need a microphone and a digital recorder. One option is a self-contained system, like those found in smartphones and voice recorders. These are very lightweight a

www.macaulaylibrary.org

 

[Robert S]

Thanks for the posts. Thermal imaging is too expensive. Just not worth it for what I want. Descent audio gear is also too expensive. I'll give it a miss.

 

[pdterp]

I own a company that makes parabolic microphones for birdwatchers (SoundSharkAudio.com), so I've tested many parabolic microphone products, including inexpensive Chinese products like the one you referenced. The audio quality supplied by these units is poor, but they would help you locate a bird with a very small investment.

 

[Robert S]

Thanks for the post pdterp. I've been listening to the Whip birds that live next door for five years and never seen the bird. The next door neighbour has done a lot of clearing but I still hear the Whip birds. It is possible they are further away than I had thought. Many Australians have heard Whip birds but seeing them is another thing all together. I have only seen one and that was during a stay at O'Reilly's in Lamington National Park. I managed to get a photo of the bird using a Canon 5Ds and Sigma 120-300 f2.8 on a monopod. I can buy a cheap parabolic mic for less than Australian $50 from Amazon so will give it a go.
Photo of the Whip bird:

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[pdterp]

Good luck! I hope it works for you.

 

[Calson]

I bought a dish with a small mic that connects to an iphone to use with Merlin bird ID. It ships from Spain and no issues with getting it to me in California.

Micrófono parabólico BIRDMIC - Birdfox S.L.

Micrófono Parabólico BirdMic para la escucha de aves. Ligero y multifuncional. Acopla una grabadora de campo un smartphone. Ideal para videocámaras.

www.birdfox.tech

I have two Telinga parabolic dishes and one of the Telinga stereo mics but it is overkill for bird ID purposes.

Merlin even with the poor mic on the iphone still picks up bird songs and identifies the birds and then I know to look for a particular species. IR detection would be worthless for this use.

 

[Robert S]

Thanks for the info Calson. All being well the cheap microphone will be here this week.

 

[AlanB313]

Let us know how you like it.

Eventually when I can afford it, I want to get some high quality recording equipment. I'm almost as interested in audio recording of birds as photography. Spring is the best time for audio as everything is singing.

 

[Robert S]

The microphone arrived today. It has been fun playing with it. It certainly amplifies the bird song, but it is not much use for direction finding. I will try some modifications. The quality is not good enough to consider the thing for video.