Sounds

Connecticut '06

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, this project seeks to understand whether owls respond to cellular-grade audio at a rate similar to that of high quality audio players.

Summary

Animal vocalizations provide useful indicators for assessing biodiversity, or habitat quality. Interactive playback (a controlled mixture of broadcasting and recording) augments the effectiveness of passive recording, particularly when targeting specific species in animal surveys, and studying animal communication. We consider the use of cellular telephony, an increasingly pervasive technology, for conducting remote interactive playback experiments using the native, relatively low signal-to-noise audio quality. We experimented with two species of owls, the Barred owl (Strix varia) and the Eastern Screech owl (Megascops asio), following published playback protocol along rural roads in northeastern Connecticut at 0.8 km intervals, alternating between cellular phones and conventional playback technology. The process was automated through a web-controlled Voice- over-IP interface for scheduling recording and broadcasting events. Owls responded at similar levels to the calls broadcast over the cellular phones as compared to conventional technology. During the initial 30 trials, owls responded 10 times in 16 trials (63%) using the cellular phone and 6 times in 14 trials (43%) using conventional technology. The frequency of response was also similar for the direct comparison of the techniques at the 11 selected locations. At the seven locations where owls responded to both audio technologies, the delay of response didn't differ widely by technology.

Broader Impact

The advantage of cellular telephony becomes evident in studies in which an area is repeatedly sampled, or which cover large geographical areas. Taking snapshots in time of environmental sounds throughout large geographical areas, using relatively inexpensive experimental equipment, provide the additional ability to localize or separate animals by position relative to the cellular phone stations. Cellular phone technology is increasingly ubiquitous and available in remote regions sometimes lacking standard telephones. Considering this widening - and increasing - use of cellular phones, we envision environmental sound capture through cellular telephony to become increasingly popular, and, coupled with networking technologies, allow community participation in scientific studies.

Sample Experiment Data

Please follow the link to hear the Connecticut experiments Sample Connecticut Experiment