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Bioacoustics

Beta Q&A site for people interested in the studies of non-human animal sounds and the impacts of sounds on animals.

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Congratulations to Bioacoustics on completing the Commitment phase!

jun 15 at 17:29 JNat♦ 299
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Will Unregistered Users or people who have not committed be able to join the private beta once it has started?

jun 6 at 22:47 animuson♦ 736
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What do people think about “basic” animal sounds questions?

apr 29 at 16:59 William Halliday 51
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How should I participate in the Bioacoustics Stack Exchange Proposal?

mar 16 at 13:41 Shannon 3,643
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Should we edit our example questions after we have received suggestions from the community?

mar 4 at 14:25 EcologyTom 204

discuss this proposal

This proposal is now in the Beta phase — example questions are locked!

80 Example Questions

active newest votes
up vote 7 down vote
How can I quantitatively assess masking e.g. of baleen whale calls by air guns?
added by Léa Bouffaut Feb 28 at 19:12
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up vote 6 down vote
What is this patterned pulsed 'PacMan' sound heard off Peru?(https://soundcloud.com/southwestacousticecology/mysterypacman-rankin-swfsc-star2003)
added by Shannon Feb 22 at 3:38
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Stack Exchange might serve as a good platform for helping us solve 'mystery' sounds. This usually requires an embedded image of the spectrogram (and perhaps waveform?), and a link to an audio file stored on an open source platform. This is difficult to show as an example question on the proposal, but open to discussion. – Shannon Feb 22 at 14:12
Information about time of year it was recorded, distance from shore, and if it was recorded just once, or in a repeated pattern, would be helpful also. – selene Feb 22 at 18:39
An equivalent for mystery bird song already exists at xeno-canto.org – EcologyTom Feb 25 at 9:54
up vote 5 down vote
Anyone tried to input SoundTraps calibration data in PAMGuard for noise measurements? Following guidelines from OI results in weirdly high values...
added by Timelate Mar 2 at 16:50
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1  
I realize this is an example question- but I would want more specific information. I do feel this is on-topic, just needs more detailed info. – Shannon Mar 3 at 14:45
2  
Hi! I asked the example question and definitely agree with you it need more details ! I would have added more specification (e.g, what the recommendation are in the user guide, and what kind of value I end up with maybe ?) Just got stopped by the character limit in the question form :) – Timelate Mar 3 at 15:12
up vote 5 down vote
Is there a well-agreed upon standard for measuring ship source levels in shallow water?
added by user219263 Mar 4 at 0:28
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I'm interested in the community's thoughts on this question. It is not specifically related to animal bioacoustics, BUT it is related to anthropogenic noise and our initial intention is to extend our scope to include using sound to study the environment (and potential impacts on animals)... and therefore this type of question would be acceptable. Thoughts??? – Shannon Mar 5 at 15:17
I agree that it is not directly related to animal bioacoustics however I think it would be useful to keep this kind of questions since many of us are also doing this type of measurements. As Shannon also mentioned, in many cases, ship source levels are used to assess impact on marine fauna. – Xavier Mouy Mar 13 at 14:16
up vote 4 down vote
Are there best practices for different R packages analyzing sound? There are overlaps between them. Are there differences in the way they treat data?
added by etgriffiths Feb 24 at 15:32
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2  
I really like these questions, but they seem hugely open-ended. On other SE sties this sort of post often gets downvoted as being too wide. I would suggest narrowing them down to something more specific. – EcologyTom Feb 25 at 9:55
I get what you are saying, but I was trying to structure it as someone might who doesn't know much. Ultimately, most of the acoustic packages are based on tuneR, anyway. So this question could lead to a teaching moment about those types of dependencies. – etgriffiths Mar 2 at 12:18
up vote 3 down vote
What is likely to be a better detector - a matched filter extracted from a real-life recording, or a synthetically made matched filter?
added by Kerri Feb 22 at 22:41
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up vote 2 down vote
At what point can one be qualified to identify a certain species based on sound alone?
added by etgriffiths Mar 2 at 12:10
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up vote 2 down vote
How can I remove a broadband signal (e.g. white noise) from a recording without distorting animal (bat echolocation and communication pulses) calls?
added by Ava Mar 4 at 16:36
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up vote 1 down vote
Which marine species is most likely to use / most documented to communicate with what we perceive as "dialects" or "accents"?
added by Kerri Feb 22 at 22:52
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up vote 1 down vote
I am working with a remote population, and their vox are different than what is commonly recorded for this species. Does this support speciation?
added by etgriffiths Feb 24 at 9:50
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up vote 1 down vote
If I find navy sonar signals in my PAM recordings can I then publish those signals e.g. in a noise effects paper or is that illegal in some countries?
added by Michael Ladegaard Feb 24 at 12:15
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Perhaps - What are the challenges/ethics involved for publishing navy sonar signals that were obtained in my PAM recording..? – Vijay Ramesh Feb 24 at 14:16
up vote 1 down vote
When localization is not possible while using a towed array, can received call amplitude be used to determine if calls are within a mitigation zone?
added by LizFerg Feb 26 at 16:46
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up vote 1 down vote
What is the most complete 'feature extraction' package (in R, Python, and specific like Tadarida), and is there a comparison available somewhere?
added by Jehol Feb 27 at 19:59
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up vote 1 down vote
Why are acoustic deterrents, like pingers, effective for some species and a dinner bell for others?
added by etgriffiths Mar 2 at 12:13
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up vote 1 down vote
What is this animal sound I hear in my backyard in evenings in San Diego, CA, in spring (*link in soundcloud, no spectrogram)?
added by Shannon Mar 2 at 16:21
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This is a fake example based on a similar post in Biology Stack Exchange-- included for the community to assess if this is ON or OFF Topic. Assume I have included a link to a sound. – Shannon Mar 2 at 21:25
I'm out of votes but I'd consider this still on-topic. Even though the bioacoustics research field is growing, I think engagement from the broader community just interested in animal sounds will build up the numbers and support we will need to make this happen! – selene Mar 3 at 14:39
up vote 1 down vote
Do animals make or appreciate music?
added by Pralle Mar 4 at 9:28
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Well this is a curious question-- it seems to me that 'music' in a human construct and I might prefer a different wording to avoid anthropomorphism. If reworded, I think this question could be 'on topic'. I'd like to see more discussion on this?!? – Shannon Mar 4 at 14:11
Do some animals produce sounds without any apparent goals other than enjoying? – Noil Mar 7 at 17:03
up vote 1 down vote
How can we measure ambient noise in a hydrophone recording when the recording contains instrumental sounds such as chain (buoy attachment)?
added by Sougata Sadhukhan Mar 10 at 9:07
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up vote 1 down vote
I want to perform 3D acoustic localization with a compact 6-hydrophone array. How should place my hydrophones to minimize localization uncertainties?
added by Xavier Mouy Mar 13 at 3:20
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up vote 0 down vote
How big are the impact volumes from sounds made by piles being driven into the ocean floor?
added by Kerri Feb 22 at 22:47
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2  
do you mean the radii corresponding with TTS/PTS? perhaps specify what you mean by "impact" – chloe Feb 23 at 11:55
up vote 0 down vote
How to decide the sampling rate for field recordings of a new (unstudied) species of X animal (X=frog/bird/bat/dolphin)?
added by Thejasvi Feb 23 at 7:32
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I think you would need to narrow the possible species down i.e. bats, toothed whales, baleen whales? That way the question can be answered more easily. – macster110 Feb 23 at 8:44
2  
Altered to specify that the animal type is known, but the species isn't well studied. Question was trying to get at the general principle behind setting sampling rate of bioac recordings. – Thejasvi Feb 23 at 9:02
up vote 0 down vote
How do I measure the target strength of an object?
added by Thejasvi Feb 23 at 7:39
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up vote 0 down vote
How can I identify the source of within- and between-individual variation in vocalisations? (e.g. emotional state, group dialect, envr noise, etc)
added by Pralle Mar 1 at 14:44
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up vote 0 down vote
My chicken makes a purring sound. Is this normal?
added by Pralle Mar 3 at 14:37
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I think this is a good question (but i'm out of votes); I would suggest that they provide a link to a recorded sound as these types of descriptive sounds can sometimes be interpreted differently by different people (and different languages may use different descriptive words!). – Shannon Mar 3 at 14:44
1  
Maybe a better way to think about it is, what sounds are "normal" for a species...? – Pralle Mar 10 at 19:54
up vote 0 down vote
What is a good reference or resource on how to effectively resolve/use PAM data with remote sensing data or environmental data?
added by Marie Mar 4 at 20:58
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Not entirely clear as written (what do you mean by 'resolve'?). Do you mean to merge data or? – Shannon Mar 5 at 15:19
"resolve" what? It is a broad question, be more specific. – Bruna Campos Paula Mar 6 at 12:18
up vote 0 down vote
What are the most sensitive animals in term of level hearing thresholds (for each substrate & frequency band) and what are their hearing mechanisms?
added by Noil Mar 7 at 17:15
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up vote 0 down vote
How do I install and use BirdNET on Windows?
added by cathleen_b Mar 8 at 18:43
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up vote 0 down vote
Is there a way to run BirdNET from R (instead of Python)?
added by cathleen_b Mar 8 at 18:47
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up vote 0 down vote
When selecting a hydrophone to detect species at multiple frequency bands, is a flat or shaped frequency response more appropriate?
added by LizFerg Mar 8 at 21:41
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up vote 0 down vote
How do I localize a sound source using an array of microphones ?
added by user219667 Mar 9 at 0:09
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1  
Hi there. This seems to be a slightly different form of an existing question (area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/126698/…). Perhaps re-phrase to ask something in a different direction? – Thejasvi Mar 10 at 9:36
up vote 0 down vote
Did anyone get any evidence of vocal animals sacrifing their signature calling in order to adapt to the human-dominated landscape?
added by Sougata Sadhukhan Mar 10 at 9:12
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This sounds like it fits under another question (How do we know when a human-made sound causes harm to marine life?) because changing call signature could have detrimental effects on conspecific recognition – Pralle Mar 10 at 19:50
up vote 0 down vote
Is there a standard way to save/share results and metadata from automatic detectors ?
added by Xavier Mouy Mar 14 at 12:37
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Great question! – Shannon Mar 14 at 18:23
up vote -1 down vote
What are some good references or resources on the challenges of soundscape studies?
added by MZiegenhorn Feb 23 at 2:08
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is this too broad? – MZiegenhorn Feb 23 at 2:08
3  
I would suggest way too broad – macster110 Feb 23 at 8:43
1  
What about "What is a good reference or resource on the challenges of soundscape studies?" – selene Feb 23 at 13:26
I like Selene's suggestion rather than downvoting this question. – Vijay Ramesh Feb 24 at 14:22
Yep, I agree, Selene's suggestion is a great refinement. – EcologyTom Feb 25 at 9:57
show 1 more improvement suggestion
up vote -1 down vote
How do detection ranges vary for mysticetes vs odontocetes for a bottom-moored sensor (sensitivity –174 dB re 1 V/µPa) off of San Diego, California?
added by MZiegenhorn Feb 23 at 2:23
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think the specification of depth is irrelevant here (in a question where sound speed profiles are unknown). – chloe Feb 23 at 11:54
I don't know if naming HARP is useful, as not all folk will know what it is (on a global scale). I would limit it to bottom-moored sensor, listing the sensitivity, and location. – etgriffiths Feb 24 at 15:45
up vote -1 down vote
Can anyone suggest useful 'getting started' resources for learning to read waveforms/spectrograms to understand how they represent the sound?
added by Sarah Vela Feb 23 at 14:08
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Too broad for a Q&A site-- there's good info on the web for people to learn the basics and then come here for more refined questions. – Shannon Mar 4 at 14:15
up vote -1 down vote
Which is the best open-source audio recorder for collecting recordings of insects in temperate woodland habitats?
added by EcologyTom Feb 25 at 9:57
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1  
I think this falls under the issues with 'best' being vague, but I think the idea of the question is valuable. Looking for something cost effective? with a flat frequency response? low power draw/long deployment duration? durability? – selene Feb 25 at 13:19
1  
Agreed! But I think those sorts of details would then be in the main text. Certainly without that sort of refinement, the question would be too broad for SE. – EcologyTom Feb 25 at 13:46
up vote -1 down vote
Are there some rules of thumb(s) for selecting the right gain level for your Bioacoustic study?
added by Kevin James Feb 26 at 17:44
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I think the idea behind this Q is on topic and could just be made more specific and could lead to a whole bunch of questions - like...how do I know if my gain is too high or too low? How can I tell if my recordings are clipped? I set the gain to low is there anyway I can post-process to boost my recordings? – selene Mar 3 at 16:21
I agree that this question is a little too broad as asked, but is generally on-topic. I think a refinement following Selene's comments would be spot-on. – Shannon Mar 4 at 14:12
up vote -1 down vote
What is some advice you wish you would have gotten before you deployed your first acoustic recorder/array?
added by Kevin James Feb 26 at 17:59
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1  
I struggle with this one-- it is too broad and there is no one answer, and yet if the question was asked for a very specific type of situation, it could be incredibly beneficial to the community. I welcome feedback from the community for how we should respond to open queries for advice?!?! – Shannon Feb 28 at 14:52
I suppose we could ask for more specifics (terrestrial or marine, static devices or mobile/towed, a bit of details on the environment of supposed deployment...) Would definitely be useful to a lot of people I think... – Timelate Mar 3 at 15:15
up vote -1 down vote
What conferences exist for discussing bioacoustics?
added by chloe Mar 9 at 10:45
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up vote -2 down vote
How did the acoustics community figure out the animal that made the "boing" sound?
added by Kerri Feb 22 at 22:36
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specify marine? – chloe Feb 23 at 11:54
Would a quick google search give this answer? It does for me...but that could be my google algorithm knows what I care about :) Would the question need to show what research the asker has already done and what bit of info they are still looking for? – selene Feb 23 at 13:32
Always enjoy storytelling (ha!), but I think an acceptable approach might be something along the lines of "I have a mystery Pacman sound I heard off Peru, and I am curious how other acousticians discovered mystery sounds such as the boing". Perhaps that might be more acceptable. Perhaps an alternative could be suggested? – Shannon Feb 24 at 3:18
up vote -4 down vote
My neighbor's drilling all day produces sounds that disrupt my work. How do I collect measurements to demonstrate the acoustic disturbance on my work?
added by LizFerg Mar 2 at 18:32
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I would consider this OFF TOPIC as it is not related to non-human animal bioacoustics or the affect of sound on animals. Or, should we broaden our scope? – Shannon Mar 2 at 21:23
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