Thread: Thailand bird photos

Originally Posted by Neverna

Have you considered a parabolic reflector to increase the volume of birdsong recordings?

Interesting. I did previously search Lazada for "Parabolic Microphone" but this Rode was the nearest thing they showed. I had also thought about using something smaller, maybe teacup sized, around just the mic, so the whole unit would attach to the phone. I got no further than an idea. Perhaps a very lightweight disposable food bowl would work? It would need to be somewhat parabolic in shape, light in weight and in a workable material.

I hadn't thought of plant pots. Good idea.

To be fair, I think the failings are in the app rather than in the hardware. I can probably go outside now and get a tree sparrow, a tailorbird and a purple sunbird, the app seems to identify them easily. Plus the ever-present chickens. Other birds it gets with difficulty even when they are singing clearly, that magpie robin for example, the app identifies it only occasionally. This is not a complaint, the app is a massive undertaking with over a thousand Asian birds in its database. It could become brilliant over time. I can hear maybe half a dozen different birds calling right now but if I step outside I'll probably see only one or two without binoculars, so a good sound ID would be really useful.

Can you see what it is yet? Bright sunshine, dark shadows, the phone is trying to focus on different parts of the bush.



Well, it is a tiny thing.



Yeh, probably not an award winning shot.

The Internet has some (slightly) better pictures:

And the Black-winged cuckooshrike.
(Credit to those who have the skills to capture these images. It is currently 43.3C outside, even if I had good equipment I don't think I'd be sitting out with it just hoping that an interesting bird would hop into view.)