🐦⬛12.14 Luxelakes: Recap of Birdwatching Saturday— Visualizing Sounds
I’ve always found it difficult to distinguish bird calls, but the techniques I learned at Cornell this year have been incredibly helpful. I hope to continue applying this knowledge and share it with more people. Jay’s suggestion to use sound frequency spectrograms has been invaluable in helping participants visualize and remember bird calls.
On December 14, the event began with a 30-minute indoor session on bird call theory. Participants analyzed the spectrograms of common birds in Chengdu, such as the Light-vented Bulbul, Blackbird, Kingfisher, White-browed Laughingthrush, Scarlet-headed Flowerpecker, and Oriental Magpie-Robin. They learned to distinguish different species based on characteristics like rhythm and amplitude. Many attendees found that the tip Jay shared with me—using visualized spectrograms rather than relying solely on hearing—made it much easier to remember bird calls.
For the next 1 to 1.5 hours, participants put this method into practice at Hongshi Park. Each person received a random spectrogram and attempted to match it with a bird’s call in the field. Since some children didn’t have recording devices, they sketched the sound waves or noted rhythm and volume patterns instead. The goal was to encourage participants to observe birds not just by sight but also by sound, engaging multiple senses to develop a more holistic understanding of species. Even if they couldn’t correctly identify the bird from the spectrogram, they were at least training their ability to listen more attentively.
During the hour-long session, participants observed nine bird species, totaling about 50 individual birds. Afterward, they completed a park evaluation survey based on bird habitat and birdwatching site criteria, assessing the level of human disturbance in the park as moderate.
Through these two events, more people have started reflecting on the impact of human activity on wildlife and discussing ways to create a more bird-friendly community. Ideas included installing designated birdwatching signs with brief species introductions and planting more shrubs to enhance bird habitats. Seeing how my carefully designed activities inspired participants to think differently was deeply rewarding for me.