Acoustic sensors enable efficient and non-invasive monitoring of a wide range of species, including many that are difficult to monitor in other ways. Although they were initially limited in application scope largely due to cost and hardware constraints, the development of low-cost, open-source models like the Audiomoth in recent years has increased access immensely and opened up new avenues of research. For example, some teams are using them to identify illicit human activities through the detection of associated sounds, like gunshots, vehicles, or chainsaws (e.g. OpenEars).
With this relatively novel dimension of wildlife monitoring rapidly advancing in both marine and terrestrial systems, it is crucial that we identify and share information about the utility and constraints of these sensors to inform efforts. A recent study identified advancements in hardware and machine learning applications, as well as early development of acoustic biodiversity indicators, as factors facilitating progress in the field. In terms of limitations, the authors highlight insufficient reference sound libraries, a lack of open-source audio processing tools, and a need for standardization of survey and analysis protocols. They also stress the importance of collaboration in moving forward, which is precisely what this group will aim to facilitate.
If you're new to acoustic monitoring and want to get up to speed on the basics, check out these beginner's resources and conversations from across the WILDLABS platform:
Three Resources for Beginners:
- Listening to Nature: The Emerging Field of Bioacoustics, Adam Welz
- Ecoacoustics and Biodiversity Monitoring, RSEC Journal
- Monitoring Ecosystems through Sound: The Present and Future of Passive Acoustics, Ella Browning and Rory Gibb
Three Forum Threads for Beginners:
- AudioMoth user guide | Tessa Rhinehart
- Audiomoth and Natterjack Monitoring (UK) | Stuart Newson
- Help with analysing bat recordings from Audiomoth | Carlos Abrahams
Three Tutorials for Beginners:
- "How do I perform automated recordings of bird assemblages?" | Carlos Abrahams, Tech Tutors
- "How do I scale up acoustic surveys with Audiomoths and automated processing?" | Tessa Rhinehart, Tech Tutors
- Acoustic Monitoring | David Watson, Ruby Lee, Andy Hill, and Dimitri Ponirakis, Virtual Meetups
Want to know more about acoustic monitoring and learn from experts in the WILDLABS community? Jump into the discussion in our Acoustic Monitoring group!
Header image: Carly Batist
- @jsulloa
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Instituto Humboldt & Red Ecoacústica Colombiana
Scientist and engineer developing smart tools for ecology and biodiversity conservation.
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Wildlife Acoustics
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PhD student at IISER Tirupati working on cultural variation in birdsong at an individual and population level. Interested in complex vocal signaling and patterns emergent from hand-held and PAM data. Focus areas in bheavioural ecology and evolutionary biology.
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Wild Spy
Whilst I love everything about WILDLABS and the conservation tech community I am mostly here for the badges!!
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Electronics / Embedded software engineer, specialized in audio technology.
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I am a conservation technology advisor with New Zealand's Department of Conservation. I have experience in developing remote monitoring tech, sensors, remote comms and data management.
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Robotic engineer, working on environmental and biodiversity monitoring.
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Community Announcement
WILDLABS Community Call Recording: Rainforest X-PRIZE
WILDLABS Admin
Our second WILDLABS Community Call took place on April 1st to continue the discussion started by Ben Tregenna in our Data Science group, in which he suggested the idea of submitting a collaborative entry to the X-Prize...
30 March 2020
Article
Trapped inside during the COVID-19 quarantine and looking to engage with conservation science without leaving your desk? Citizen science projects like those on Zooniverse offer a great opportunity to impact scientific...
18 March 2020
Article
Machine learning is rapidly expanding as a useful field research tool, but its complexity can intimidate even seasoned tech conservationists. Edge Impulse aims to make machine learning solutions accessible,...
16 March 2020
Article
#Tech4Wildlife 2020 Photo Challenge In Review
WILDLABS Team
2020 marked our fifth year holding our annual #Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge, and our community made it a milestone to remember. Conservationists took to Twitter last week to share their best high-tech snapshots from...
4 March 2020
Article
Listening to Nature: The Emerging Field of Bioacoustics
WILDLABS Team
Researchers are increasingly placing microphones in forests and other ecosystems to monitor birds, insects, frogs, and other animals. As the technology advances and becomes less costly, proponents argue, bioacoustics is...
24 February 2020
Article
Technology lab focused on wildlife protection opens on Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Ol Pejeta Conservancy partners with conservation and technology organisations to kick-start a research and innovation centre for wildlife conservation
31 May 2019
Article
Meet the WILDLABS TECH HUB Winners
WILDLABS Team
In February, we released an open call for the WILDLABS TECH HUB, offering 3 months of support for solutions using technolgy to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. We were overwhelmed by an incredible 37 submissions,...
13 May 2019
Article
#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge: Our Favourites from 2019
WILDLABS Team
Happy World Wildlife Day! To celebrate, this week we've asked our community to share photos showing how they are using tech in the field or the lab, using the #Tech4Wildlife hashtag.
3 March 2019
Article
Getting up close and personal with Antarctica's orcas
WILDLABS Team
In this case study, Science Reporter Jamie Morton tells the story of how Kiwi scientists are teaming up with a local underwater robotics company to gain world-first insights into the lives of whales in Antarctica.
4 February 2019
Article
Monitoring Ecosystems through Sound: The Present and Future of Passive Acoustics
Ella Browning and 1 more
As human impacts on the world accelerate, so does the need for tools to monitor the effects we have on species and ecosystems. In this article, Ella Browning and Rory Gibb share insights from their recent review paper...
4 December 2018
Article
In this case study, conservation ecologist Ayesha Tulloch takes us behind the scenes of her recent paper, which came out in Nature Ecology & Evolution earlier this month. In this paper, Ayesha and her team present a...
20 August 2018
Article
The 2018 Ecoacoustics Congress Wrap-up
Anthony Truskinger
Last month, the 2018 Ecoacoustics Congress was held in Brisbane. Bringing together scientists, natural resource managers, industry and artists, participants explored the ways that sound can deepen our understanding of...
25 July 2018
June 2025
event
Julia Wiel
July 2025
September 2025
October 2025
event
Vanesa Reyes
November 2025
March 2025
event
Juan Sebastián Ulloa and 1 more
event
Audrey Looby
February 2025
event
Wildlife Drones
61 Products
| Description | Activity | Replies | Groups | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If you are considering EduGenie for your school assignments, it is useful to read the detailed review on the website. The article at https://nocramming.com/edugenie-review... |
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Marine Conservation | 1 minute 2 seconds ago | |
| Hi Mona. Yes, this is what we certainly what we are considering, but how to measure these indices by the hands of non-experts in the field is the advice that I need from the WL... |
|
Acoustics | 1 day 19 hours ago | |
| Would that be able to process locally stored acoustic data? One of the great things about birdnet analyzer is that it is local - it doesn't require uploading terabytes... |
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Acoustics | 4 days 10 hours ago | |
| Do you collect or use sound recordings of habitats or species like birds, frogs, mammals, or insects in India? We need your expertise!... |
|
Acoustics | 1 week 2 days ago | |
| My name is Frank Short and I am a PhD Candidate at Boston University in Biological Anthropology. I am currently doing fieldwork in Indonesia using machine-learning powered passive... |
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Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Animal Movement, Data management and processing tools, Early Career, Emerging Tech, Ethics of Conservation Tech, Protected Area Management Tools, Software Development | 2 weeks 1 day ago | |
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Latin America Community, Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Camera Traps, Drones, Early Career | 2 weeks 6 days ago | ||
| There are a lot of parameters in principle here. The size of the battery. How much time in the field is acceptable before a visit? Once a week? Once a month? How many devices you... |
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Acoustics | 3 weeks 1 day ago | |
| Hi Tom! I think the furry windjammer must be outside the casing to have the desired effect. It can be a bit tricky having this nice furry material that birds and other critters... |
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Acoustics | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
| Hi Lana,"similar field setup" means that the vocalizing animal should be surrounded by the recorders and you should have at least 4 audiomoths recording the same sound, then the... |
+9
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Acoustics | 3 weeks 3 days ago | |
| Fantastic! Can't wait to hear updates. |
|
Acoustics | 4 weeks 1 day ago | |
| New stable release : v1.5.1We are pleased to announce the latest release with several important enhancement, fixes and documentation improvements to ensure compatibility with the... |
+15
|
Acoustics, AI for Conservation, Open Source Solutions, Software Development | 1 month 1 week ago | |
| Hello everyone,Thank you all for your contribution!You can read some updates about this project in this post.Julia |
|
Acoustics, Community Base, Data management and processing tools, Open Source Solutions | 1 month 2 weeks ago |
The New Way We Listen to Nature: A Tech Revolution in Conservation and Restoration
30 January 2025 7:44pm
WEBINAR: Birds of a Feather
23 January 2025 4:02pm
Applied Bioacoustics in Conservation and Practice
22 January 2025 6:54am
Nature Tech Unconference
Acoustics 2025 — Sounds of the Sunset Coast
17 January 2025 6:30pm
International Bioacoustics Congress IBAC 2025
17 January 2025 6:15pm
Looking for bird and bat audio datasets and related research for biodiversity AI project
8 January 2025 11:12am
13 January 2025 5:28pm
Thank you very much!
15 January 2025 10:38pm
I have made a bird audio classifier for New Zealand birds. My dataset is the wrong region for you, but you're welcome to use any of my code. https://github.com/Wologman/Kaytoo The tool its self can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1X5j77w7qw9ExdnA2P7-RM-2FwgJcFjR0
Regards,
Olly
16 January 2025 9:38am
Hey, please find here a dataset about nocturnal bird calls in Europe
[2412.03633] NBM: an Open Dataset for the Acoustic Monitoring of Nocturnal Migratory Birds in Europe
Abstract page for arXiv paper 2412.03633: NBM: an Open Dataset for the Acoustic Monitoring of Nocturnal Migratory Birds in Europe
Thesis Collaboration
4 January 2025 5:15pm
7 January 2025 12:32pm
Hi Simon,
Did you already contact INBO? Both biologging and citizen science are big themes at INBO. Last year we had a master thesis on camera trapping invasive muntjac. You can send me a private message for more info!
14 January 2025 3:30pm
Hi Simon,
We're a biologging start-up based in Antwerp and are definitely open to collaborate if you're interested. We've got some programs going on with local zoo's. Feel free to send me a DM if you'd like to know more.
15 January 2025 8:30am
Hi Simon,
We (Reneco International Wildlife Consultants) have an ongoing collaboration with a local University (Abu Dhabi, UAE) for developing AI tools (cameratrap/drone images and video analyses) and biomimetic robots applied to conservation (e.g https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954124004813 ). We also have a genetic team working on eDNA. Field experience could be possible, in UAE or Morocco.
Feel free to write me back if you may be interested and would like to know more
Webinar: Drone-based VHF tracking for Wildlife Research and Management
9 January 2025 11:45pm
Joint ecoacoustic & camera-trapping project in Indonesia!
1 August 2024 5:29pm
9 December 2024 3:41am
Awesome Carly, thanks. Yes helps a lot. Those all sound like big improvements over the hardware we're currently working with.
13 December 2024 7:42pm
Hi Carly,
That would be great! Send me a message and we'll put something together after the holidays.
4 January 2025 5:27pm
Hello Carly,
Congratulations for this project!
I am studying right now a second MA in Environment Management. I would like to do my MA thesis project about these technologies (bioacoustics and camera traps). I wonder if you would be interested in a collaboration with me on that ?
I already have a professional experience so I think that my contribution could be interesting for you.
Thank you in advance for answering,
Simon
Use of acoustics to combat wildlife crime // Uso de acústica para combatir delitos contra la vida silvestre
14 October 2024 3:04pm
29 November 2024 1:09pm
Yes, thank you!
27 December 2024 2:00pm
Hola Vanessa,
Aside from whats already commented, did you find any interesting new leads on this? I'm also interested in ways ecoacoustic tech can be used against wildlife crime, both as in research development, but even more so in its short or long-term applications and how it can be truly adopted in source countries.
It seems to me research or work in this is still limited but there's potential! I'd love to stay in touch about it :)
31 December 2024 8:02am
Hey Xiona,
I see that you are from a university that is very close to where I live. I have a platform that is well suited for combating wildlife crime and I perceive that it’s rather a small step to go from where I am to where you guys are all asking for. I suspect the piece I’m missing could be generated pretty easily with AI.
Would you be interested in having a chat about this ? Perhaps we can embark on a project ?
Kim from near Sittard,
The Netherlands
Camera trap triggered by loud noise coming from inside a nest box
28 December 2024 6:31pm
29 December 2024 6:18pm
Well, I have an audio recording project (https://github.com/hcfman/sbts-aru), that records potentially with highly accurate clock if you want to do sound localization, but you can use it to both record sounds and process an audio pipeline at the same time. And I have an AI object detector and video alerting project that handles input and output I/O as well. But it has a flexible state machine build in. It doesn't have to trigger with video, it's trivial to make it trigger from anything else. Such as the audio reaching a certain level, or even an audio pipeline recognising a certain sound. It's just a rest http call to the state machine, then it can capture video frames, with pre-capture if needed as well.
It draws a lot of power though. But I haven't tested the power usage when not running with anb object detector though. The lowest power Pi it can run on is a Raspberry Pi 4.
I have intentions to combine the two of these projects at some point to make something that can trigger on both object detection and also audio detection. When I get time... which is the only barrier. Bit it's not my highest prio right now.
It would definately need solar panels though to make it run for a long time. But in principle it would likely not be very hard to tweak it to trigger on sound. If this becomes a really must have bit of functionality, you could reach out to me directly. But it might be a couple of months before I could put any time into something like this.
I know that various people are interested in things like detecting chainsaw sounds. This could do that sort of thing with the right pipeline, but I haven't even started to play with audio analysis pipelines yet.
30 December 2024 3:42pm
That's great, we are in no hurry since this would be for next year's reproduction season. We would also be interested in the Ai that you mention if it's able to detect big size birds (working with the southern ground hornbill). That way the camera would trigger whenever the parents enter the nestbox. I asked a little bit and solar panels shouldn't be an issue. But to explain it in a more detailed way (exactly what will be need it, which camereas can be paired with the program, anything else relevant, etc) maybe we could keep the conversation through email: quimagell@hotmail.com
Im trying to explain everything to my bosses and would be great to know exactly what will be needed besaides solar panels and the camera (since this kind of technology is really new we might need some clear instructions and guidance, my knowlodge extens to CT and solar panels to power survillance cameras at nests but that would be it..). Thanks so much before hand!
30 December 2024 6:28pm
Sounds good, will do.
My Journey with the Women in Conservation Technology Program
27 December 2024 1:50pm
Birdweather Puc use as a passive sensor
13 December 2024 6:46am
13 December 2024 3:07pm
Checking the Birdweather FAQ, I guess you need to be more detailed on the setup description. For example, if you use a powerbank to power the PUC that is NOT ALWAYS-ON, it may swich-off after some time. So details of your setup may matter.
Caveat, I do not have a PUC, but tried to understand you problem.
18 December 2024 1:03pm
Thanks for the advice Wade!
It will be great to hear Tim's feedback, but thanks for your advice! I think Lithium batteries are the next step for us. I have successfully gotten it working with a power bank attached, but that really impedes its portability. Will also fiddle around with the GPS per your recommendations...
18 December 2024 1:10pm
Hello Walter
Thanks for your input. I have achieved better results with the puc when hooking it up to a powerbank. Have got them set up to "recording only", and GPS to low power mode. Looking to now try eliminating the need for a power bank as that impairs the portability of the puc.
¿Conoces colecciones de sonidos de la biodiversidad en América Latina? / Você conhece coleções de sons da biodiversidade na América Latina?
17 November 2024 6:30pm
2 December 2024 2:44pm
He compilado esta lista de bibliotecas de referencia acústica!
I've compiled this list of acoustic reference libraries!
16 December 2024 3:01pm
Carly!
Está fantástica la lista. Me gusta la idea de diferenciar las colecciones de sonido y los conjuntos de dato para machine learning.
Acá comparto información sobre nuestra colección de sonidos ambientales:
- Colección de Sonidos Ambientales: https://colecciones.humboldt.org.co/sonidos/ , Multiple taxa, Global, 25k recordings, 1.3k species, mantenido por el Instituto Humboldt desde 1997.
Este recurso de BioacousticsIA me pareció particularmente interesante ya que está público, tiene una clara estrategia para mantenerlo al día y está diseñado para incluir muchos detalles sobre los conjuntos de grabaciones.
Muchas gracias! :D
16 December 2024 6:06pm
Added!
¡Agregada!
Insect call library
6 December 2024 8:28pm
6 December 2024 11:53pm
Hi Iqbal,
Xeno-canto has expanded the taxonomic scope and now has some insect calls there. There are a few insect-focused libraries listed on this compilation of bioacoustic reference libraries too. I believe there are aquatic invertebrates being added to the Freshwater Sounds Archive as well (led by @JackGreenhalgh). Ed Baker from NHM would be a good person to talk to - he's done a ton of work on insect bioacoustics.
Hope that helps a bit!
-Carly
9 December 2024 3:39pm
Hi Carly,
I've found and made use of Xeno-canto's libraries in the past, but for the current project plan to actually build a library myself. Thanks for the pointer to Ed Baker, I'll definitely follow up on it.
Cheers,
Iqbal
13 December 2024 1:36pm
Hi Iqbal,
I'm sure you could get some good feedback on this from XC users on this, particularly on the subject of protocols, recording settings, etc. So maybe a nice idea to post it on the forum there.
cheers,
Bob
Xeno-canto.org
AI Researcher / Doctoral Candidate
11 December 2024 1:45pm
Recovery Ecology Post Doctoral Associate - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
26 November 2024 11:47pm
unsupervised machine learning to infer syntax and temporal organisations of animal vocalizations
7 September 2023 3:02pm
26 November 2024 3:41pm
Super interesting work! Maybe one day you will also be able to have a career as a science fiction writer. Lot of interesting outcomes can come of this. ❤️
New model for Europe - AvesEcho
15 November 2024 8:02am
18 November 2024 5:48am
My first test with known samples resulted in mixed results.
No one else looking into the model?
Greetings,
Robin
26 November 2024 1:01pm
It's still a bit early days. For nocturnal flight calls (which are the majority of the mysteries) the recordings are generally of poor quality and the model doesn't find anything (according to the tresholds we have set). We are running the model in the background on focal recordings from Europe as well, and there performance is pretty good. As we are not runnign BirdNET alongside AvesEcho, I cannot say at this stage which one is better, but my expectation is that AvesEcho should be an improvement, as it is based on BirdNET and is then further trained with more focal recordings. But time will tell if that is indeed the case!
New book: Sound Identification of Terrestrial mammals
17 November 2023 1:55pm
4 October 2024 11:38pm
This looks awesome!
AmazonTEC: 4D Technology for Biodiversity Monitoring in the Amazon (English)
25 November 2024 8:33pm
Winterproofing SongMeters
6 November 2024 10:34pm
19 November 2024 5:30pm
Thanks, Troy! Makes sense. Average winter lows where we'll be deploying are right around freezing-- perhaps a few days that dip into the 20*F range, but not many. Definitely colder than is ideal for alkalines... but maybe Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAs would get them through?
My collaborators are hoping to monitor through the cold season for multiple years, so if they end up purchasing new units for this project specifically, I will steer them towards OwlSense units! We've been super happy with them at IBP.
19 November 2024 5:30pm
Very helpful; thank you, Akiba!
21 November 2024 4:12pm
I think lithium AAs would be ideal, but since it's not likely to be super cold I think you could get away with Alkaline if you're ok with somewhat reduced runtimes.
Arctic Acoustic Technician
19 November 2024 6:30pm
Help us test PAMGuard for macOS
19 November 2024 12:16pm
Owl Sense Audio Recorders
16 November 2024 5:32pm
18 November 2024 8:09pm
Nice to see you mention the primo EM172 mic capsules. Those are the ones that I use with my pi based recorder. They are the gold standard I think. But no mems microphone is going to be able to reach that same quality I think. At least none that I’ve seen.
Sounds like your made a mighty fine product.
19 November 2024 3:00am
Thanks Kim. Primo makes some good microphones and undeniably they are going to be better than any MEMS microphone. I do think folks underestimate what MEMS can do these days. Infineon really did some remarkable work with their IM73D122 microphone. It's significantly better than what's in an AudioMoth and even though its rated at the same SNR of a WA Micro, it subjectively sounds much better to me and others I've talked to. I'm excited to see what Infineon launches next, they've been leading the way with MEMS mics the last few years. Fortunately, Owl Sense is designed with a separate microphone board with the goal of offering better user-replaceable microphones when they are available!
19 November 2024 6:21am
The figures come very close to the primo mic. When I looked into this a couple of years ago I don’t recall seeing one come this close.
8 February 2025 11:03pm