No abstract

Autonomous sound recording is a promising sampling method for birds and other vocalizing terrestrial wildlife. However, while there are clear advantages of passive acoustic monitoring methods over classical point counts conducted by humans, it has been difficult to quantitatively assess how they compare in their sampling performance. Quantitative comparisons of species richness between acoustic recorders and human point counts in bird surveys have previously been hampered by the differing and often unknown detection ranges or sound detection spaces among sampling methods. We performed two meta‐analyses based on 28 studies where bird point counts were paired with sound recordings at the same sampling sites. We compared alpha and gamma richness estimated by both survey methods after equalizing their effective detection ranges. We further assessed the influence of technical sound recording specifications (microphone signal‐to‐noise ratio, height and number) on the bird sampling performance of sound recorders compared to unlimited radius point counts. We show that after standardizing detection ranges, alpha and gamma richness from both methods are statistically indistinguishable, while there might be an avoidance effect in point counts. Furthermore, we show that microphone signal‐to‐noise ratio (a measure of its quality), height and number positively affect performance through increasing the detection range, allowing sound recorders to match the performance of human point counts. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrate that when used properly, high‐end sound recording systems can sample terrestrial wildlife just as well as human observers conducting point counts. Correspondingly, we suggest a first standard methodology for sampling birds with autonomous sound recorders to obtain results comparable to point counts and enable practical sampling. We also give recommendations for carrying out effective surveys and making the most out of autonomous sound recorders.

Automated recorders and occupancy models can be used together to monitor population trends of multiple avian species across a large geographic region. Automated recorders are an attractive method for monitoring birds, because they leave a record that can be independently validated and multiple units can be programmed to repeatedly survey different locations at the same daily times. We assessed the use of automated recorders and single-species, single-season occupancy models to monitor common forest birds across a 5.4-million-ha region of northern California. Using a survey protocol of 5-minute recordings at 3 times of the morning repeated over 3 consecutive days at 453 sites, we detected 32 species at >10% of these sites. Five of these species (Steller's jay [Cyanocitta stelleri], mountain chickadee [Poecile gambeli], redbreasted nuthatch [Sitta canadensis], dark-eyed junco [Junco hyemalis], and western tanager [Piranga ludoviciana]) were dominant with occupancies >0.5. We also modeled occupancy associations with elevation and canopy cover for brown creeper (Certhia americana), MacGillivray's warbler (Geothlypis tolmiei), and western tanager and found the environmental conditions at which occupancy was maximized differed by up to 399 m in elevation and 17.9% canopy cover for these species. Given a sampling effort of 100 new sites per year, we demonstrated 80% power (a ¼ 0.1) to detect occupancy declines as small as 2.5% per year over 20 years for the 32 most common species. The effective radius of automated recorder surveys was approximately 50 m. In a field test, surveys conducted concurrently using automated recorders and point counts yielded similar occupancy estimates despite differences in detection probability. Our results suggest that automated recorders, used alone or in conjunction with point counts, can provide a practical means of monitoring common forest birds across a large geographic area. Ó 2014 The Wildlife Society.

Autonomous sound recording techniques have gained considerable traction in the last decade, but the question remains whether they can replace human observation surveys to sample sonant animals. For birds in particular, survey methods have been tested extensively using point counts and sound recording surveys. Here, we review the latest evidence for this taxon within the frame of a systematic map. We compare sampling effectiveness of these two survey methods, the output variables they produce, and their practicality. When assessed against the standard of point counts, autonomous sound recording proves to be a powerful tool that samples at least as many species. This technology can monitor birds in an exhaustive, standardized, and verifiable way. Moreover, sound recorders give access to entire soundscapes from which new data types can be derived (vocal activity, acoustic indices). Variables such as abundance, density, occupancy, or species richness can be obtained to yield data sets that are comparable to and compatible with point counts. Finally, autonomous sound recorders allow investigations at high temporal and spatial resolution and coverage, which are more cost effective and cannot be achieved by human observations alone, even though small‐scale studies might be more cost effective when carried out with point counts. Sound recorders can be deployed in many places, they are more scalable and reliable, making them the better choice for bird surveys in an increasingly data‐driven time. We provide an overview of currently available recorders and discuss their specifications to guide future study designs.