Here is a link to a neat site from a guy in New York who shows you how to create an outdoor microphone out of flower pots and Saran Wrap. You put this thing on your roof, pointed up at the sky and let your PC collect the detected audio of migrating birds. He than has free software that you run to analyze the collected sound files. "Hits" of known species are time/date stamped and you can list your location and send your files so your data becomes part of the bigger picture of migrating birds. Pretty Cool!
http://www.oldbird.org/
Fun Off-Season Electronic Project for Bird Enthusiasts
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Fred Kaluza~MI
- Posts: 606
- Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 10:40 pm
- Location: Port Huron, Michigan
- Martin Colony History: Tried and tried and had some visitors but...not enough good insects around here to keep them interested.
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Guest
Very interesting, Fred! Hey, since I'm here I wanted to tell you about a website that has a map of locations where people have chimney swift towers. I thought maybe you'd want to tell them about yours sometime and get it put on the map. Here's the link:
http://www.chimneyswifts.org/page19.html
http://www.chimneyswifts.org/page19.html
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Fred Kaluza~MI
- Posts: 606
- Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2003 10:40 pm
- Location: Port Huron, Michigan
- Martin Colony History: Tried and tried and had some visitors but...not enough good insects around here to keep them interested.
Thanks Cathy. Well, yes I've been in contact with Paul & Georgean Kyle who do an awful lot with Chimney Swifts. They are working on updating their web site and have many new towers to add to the map including mine. They've written a couple books on Swifts and the critters can be every bit as endearing as Martins. Swifts have some incredible "features" and behaviors that are really interesting. Swifts & Martins will reside peaceably on the same property and they need our help as much as all the neo-tropical migrants do. For those who have been trying to get Martins for a long time without success, I suggest trying to host Swifts as well. They don't need as much open space around the housing, they don't seem to favor lakefront property and they eat smaller bugs in case you don't have hot & cold running Dragonflies in your neighborhood! Seriously, check them out, they're way cool!
http://www.chimneyswifts.org/
As most of the research has been done in Texas, I'm curious to see if the birds behave differently in man made towers this far north. You know how like Martins will accept smaller gourds on a 10' pole about 10' from a home in Texas but up here they say you need to have a 60' clear diameter around your housing of large compartments on a 25' pole or whatever. One thing I know for certain, Chimney Swifts are many times more numerous than Purple Martins in my neighborhood. At least at present. Oh yeah, no HOSP or Starling problems with Swifts either!
http://www.chimneyswifts.org/
As most of the research has been done in Texas, I'm curious to see if the birds behave differently in man made towers this far north. You know how like Martins will accept smaller gourds on a 10' pole about 10' from a home in Texas but up here they say you need to have a 60' clear diameter around your housing of large compartments on a 25' pole or whatever. One thing I know for certain, Chimney Swifts are many times more numerous than Purple Martins in my neighborhood. At least at present. Oh yeah, no HOSP or Starling problems with Swifts either!