Uruguay's Blind 'Bird Man' Can Identify 3,000 Bird Sounds

By LEONARDO HABERKORN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Jun 10, 2016, 9:33 AM ET

 The Associated Press

Born blind, Juan Pablo Culasso has never seen a bird. But through his gifted sense of hearing, he can identify more than 3,000 different bird sounds and differentiate more than 720 species.

The 29-year-old said he realized he had perfect, or absolute pitch, when he was a boy. Tossing stones in a river, he was able to tell his father exactly the note each one made when it hit the water.

Absolute pitch, the rare ability to hear a tone and immediately know it's a C-sharp, for example, is so unusual that only one of every 10,000 people has it, Culasso said, adding that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was among them.

Culasso said his dad later read to him about birds from an encyclopedia that came with an audio cassette of their calls.

"That's when I realized that I could memorize birds by their sounds," he said.

He said he discovered his calling as a teenager, when he joined an ornithologist on a 2003 field visit, inspired by his love of birds. The bird expert gave him a recorder, and he was hooked.

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DU to study how pollution affects birds’ sound

Last Updated: Monday, March 7, 2016 - 06:19

New Delhi: A project to study the impact of pollution on the acoustic quality of birds is being undertaken at the National Zoological Park.

The project is being undertaken by the students of Delhi University at the zoo that houses around 642 birds of 51 different species (as per 2015 inventory report).

"Delhi zoo with its rich diversity of birds and animals has always been a destination for various environmental projects. The avian project will record the sounds of birds here in order to gauge the impact of pollution on their acoustic quality," a zoo official said.

Ankita Das, final year Environmental Science student of the DU who is part of the project, says, "Birds generally produce low frequency sounds so that these signals travel long distances and reach their mates or other birds. But due to the rising pollution level, there has been a sharp increase in their frequency levels."

"Delhi is only second to Kenya with a rich diversity of birds despite having high levels of noise pollution. The project tries to decipher the connection between pollution and acoustic quality of birds further," she told PTI.

Das explains how human settlement and environment quality of an area affect the acoustic level of birds.

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Humans, sparrows make sense of sounds in similar ways: Complex set of cognitive skills

Date:

January 5, 2015

Source:

Duke University

Summary:

The song of the swamp sparrow -- a grey-breasted bird found in wetlands throughout much of North America -- is a simple melodious trill. But according to a new study swamp sparrows are capable of processing the notes that make up their simple songs in more sophisticated ways than previously realized -- an ability that may help researchers better understand the perceptual building blocks that enable language in humans.

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Recordings of birds at airport loud, annoying but effective

TULSA, Okla. —
Visitors to Tulsa International Airport can't help but notice the loud, incessant and unceasing bird sounds playing outside the terminal.

Some wonder just what they are, and Alexis Higgins with the Tulsa Airport Authority says they regularly get questions about them.

"We'll see on Facebook or Twitter where people have commented regarding the bird noises. Some people think it sounds like a monkey."

Higgins says they're recordings of bird distress calls, and if played at high enough volume they prevent other birds from nesting in the area.

"We've tried turning it down a little bit, because it is annoying. But it's not as effective once the volume is decreased," she says.

The airport obtained the recordings and began using them several years ago, shortly after canopies were built outside the terminal and over some parking areas.

"We don't want birds leaving their droppings all over vehicles and people," Higgins told KRMG.

She added, "the maintenance of having to clean up after birds is quite costly, and its honestly pretty disgusting."

The Airport Authority remains open to any other suggestions that might get the job done without subjecting customers to the noisy squawking.

Log on to our Facebook page or through Twitter and tag us," Higgins said. "We'll definitely explore all options."

http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/recordings-birds-airport-loud-annoying-effective/nSMgy/