“After testing different devices, we used Song Meters to complete a 3-year comparative study of the calling activity in 5 species of frogs and toads in thermal extremes of their distribution in Spain and Portugal. The reliability of the Song Meters proved to be quite satisfactory, and we are extending the acoustic monitoring of the populations intending to establish the first long-term monitoring system of anurans in Iberia and hoping to detect phenological trends related to climate change.”
Dr. Rafael Marquez, Fonoteca Zoológica, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
“We are excited to see the nocturnal flight call package offering, and even more thrilled now that we’ve started using the system,” said Rosenberg. “This design fills a major unfilled niche in producing an off-the-shelf, cost- effective, portable, and waterproof recording system to study and monitor flight calls. We feel this product will be an invaluable tool, providing an easy to deploy, standardized, and quality controlled solution for monitoring nocturnal bird migration acoustically.”
Ken Rosenberg, Director of Conservation Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
“When mist netting I use several types of bat detectors for various purposes. Because the EM3 has all of these technologies rolled into one, it is now possible to carry just this one detector instead. What I like best is the built-in screen for viewing real-time sonograms. Being able to visualize the sonograms is important to my field work, and I appreciate the ease with which you can get this information using such a compact unit.”
Dr. Cori Lausen of Birchdale Ecological in Canada
“The calls collected [on the SM2BAT] were of very good quality and the detector worked precisely as programmed. Very good coverage.”
Joel Tigner, Batworks, LLC, South Dakota, USA
“We have now used the SM2M in two different locations to record dolphin sounds and ambient noise levels. Wildlife Acoustics supported us every step of the way with great advice.”
Kathleen M. Dudzinski, PhD, Director of the Dolphin Communication Project and Senior Marine Scientist at Geo-Marine, Inc
“The Echo Meter is an all-in-one detector that has huge potentials, and eventually will make all other detectors obsolete.”
Leif Gjerde from the Nordic Chiroptera Information Center
“The SM2M recorder works very well to record anthropogenic noise and marine mammal vocalizations. The software is easy to configure in the field, it is simple to rig for the marine environment, runs for weeks without changing batteries, and records months of data on SD cards.”
Lee Shores from Marine Acoustics, Inc.
“I tested the EM3 live on site last night for the first time and it is a unique piece of kit. Finally we have access to something that not only captures and records bat calls, but also shows the calls in real-time as they come in on the screen.”
Paul Howden-Leach, senior ecologist at Baker Consultants in the United Kingdom
“The Song Meter was like extending our ears to remote areas during several days and even weeks. We could now monitor remote areas that seemed suitable for the birds. At first we did some trials in a test colony, identifying birds in flight and on the ground in a burrow. The first test in the field was negative, but we had a positive result in the second area we monitored. We found a new site just one mile away from a big well known colony. This is very good news for this shearwater.
Now we are planing to use several SM units to monitor larger areas of remote high cliff coast. In the future we think that the SM could be used in some colonies to give an indication of the number of birds.
We position the SM unit during the day, landing at the base of the cliff and climbing to best areas, such as ledges with small caves). The SM is set to monitor vocal activity one hour after sunset during three hours. After two week we search the recordings with Song Scope for shearwater vocal activity.
We are very pleased with our Song Meter unit and hopefully we will be using more units in the future.”
Ana Rodriguez Miguel McMinn
Biologists for the Local Conservation Council of the Balearic Islands.
“We have used Song Meters to monitor vocal activity of feral Monk Parakeets (Psitacidae) during the breeding season in their colonial nesting sites in parks in the city of Santiago, Chile. By doing so, we have been able to describe their daily cycle of vocal activity, as well as to estimate the great diversity of vocal signals involved in the communication of this species, with a special emphasis on those produced inside the nest. Additionally, we are planning to monitor the vocal activity of native Burrowing Parrots in the natural cliffs where they nest colonially.”
Daniel Opazo and Mario Penna, Chile