Contributing to research

Bird vocalisations are valuable to biological, ecological and taxonomic research. Studies can require large quantities of recorded vocalisations, and these are usually sourced from bird sound libraries. One of the largest, easiest to use, and fastest growing of these libraries is the wonderful xeno-canto. 

iSpiny are pleased to announce that we are now able to curate the recordings sent in by ChirpOMatic users, and post the best on xeno-canto.

How will it work?

We always love to receive your emailed recordings, even if they're not academic quality! If it is a particularly great recording that's appropriate for xeno-canto, we will get in touch with you for permission to post it. If you have any extra details such as whether you saw the bird and its behaviour, do let us know. This extra data can be very useful to researchers. Once we have your permission we’ll post the recording and send you the link.

We have already uploaded over 30 recordings, from 26 recordists and a total of 10 countries!

You can see the current list here: 

ChirpOMatic recordings for science

Xeno-canto aims to be the the ultimate bird sound resource so let's do our bit in contributing!

To find out more:
ChirpOMatic web page
ChirpOMatic in App Store

Featured in the App Store!

Our ChirpOMatic automatic birdsong identifier has been chosen by Apple for their 'Celebrate Springtime' selection of apps! We are thrilled!

ChirpOMatic update

ChirpOMatic, our shazam-style app for identifying birdsong has been updated, the first of several updates planned for 2016. As well as the lovely new design by Sam (IAmSam Creative), new birds have been added, the analysis has been improved and made faster, and it is now possible to go back and see the results from earlier recordings. 

Probably the biggest new feature is that the app now supports the Apple Watch! So if you are out and about and hear a bird, you no longer have to fumble around for your phone, just tap the button  on your watch and record it straight away. You can make as many recordings as you like and they will automatically transfer to the phone. Then tap ‘Analyse’ on the phone to get the results.

The microphone on the watch is surprisingly good and the recordings are of similar quality to those made on the phone. Something to watch out for is that the microphones are on the left side  of the watch, so be careful that your sleeve doesn’t rustle over the phone while you are recording.

Click here to see ChirpOMatic in the App Store

 

ChirpOMatic is having a makeover!

ChirpOMatic, our automatic birdsong recognition app, is having a makeover! The app has been redesigned by Sam at iamsamcreative and we are thrilled with the results. He has cleverly transformed the app, yet kept it recognisable. Thank you, Sam!

The app will be updated very soon with this great new artwork.

Click here to see ChirpOMatic in the App Store

Chirpomatic update

The first update is out for Chirpomatic, our Shazam®-style app for birdsong! The biggest change is that the recording time has been increased to 12 seconds - this will help to catch a few more chirps of each song, or the repeated phrase of a song, and will give the app more to analyse. We are approaching the time of the year when birds fall silent while they moult, so the extra recording time will be particularly useful.

We'd like to say a very big Thank You to everyone who has sent us a recording, whether by email or uploading. Your recordings will be used to improve the bird song recognition, and also give us an insight on the use of the app and where things might go wrong. They are incredibly helpful - please continue to send them!

Updates to Zwitschomat and Kvitteromat are still with Apple but should be released very soon.

Shazam® is the registered trademark of Shazam Entertainment Limited and is not affiliated with iSpiny in any way.