Yesterday morning as I was walking Kona around the pond, I heard a bird chirping away. It was a call I had heard before, but I didn’t have a clue what bird was making it. I have always admired those birders who can hear a bird call and identify the bird, but I just don’t have that ability. I can identify a few birds by their call, but not many.
Anyway, I continued my walk, and kept hearing the bird call. I tried to see the bird, but I just couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. Then I remembered that I had an app on my iPhone that was supposed to record a bird call and identify it. It was an app that I had had for a year, but never got around to using.
I dug my phone out of my pant’s pocket, opened the app, and pressed “Record” and the app recorded the bird call, then when I submitted it, it told me what bird was making it: It was a Northern Waterthrush, a bird I had never even heard of before, but the description of the bird and its chosen environment convinced me that that must be the correct bird.
I am always amazed at what we are now able to do with the help of the many apps that are available. There are apps like iNaturalist that allow you to take a photo of a plant or animal and it will identify it. The app I used to identify a bird by it’s call is BirdNET. Below is a screenshot of it showing me the graphic of the bird call and a photo of the Northern Waterthrush, that when clicked, enlarges the photo and gives information about the bird.
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