Acoustic Recorders
These are pro passive recorders for deploying for days/weeks/months for audible species such as birds, bats, frogs, etc. that record to an SD card within the device.
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These recorders are listed according to price, with the most affordable at the top.
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Song Meter Micro 2
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The smallest, lightest and most affordable wildlife audio recorder from Wildlife Acoustics, the new Song Meter Micro 2 gives scientists a simple, yet innovative, tool for recording birds, frogs and other vocal wildlife.
From conducting species inventory and presence/absence surveys to detecting endangered species and monitoring habitat health, the Song Meter Micro 2 captures quality recordings at a breakthrough price.
The smallest and most affordable passive wildlife recorder that actually does the job well and produces quality recordings of audible species such as birds and frogs.
Song Meter Mini 2
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Song Meter Mini 2 gives scientists a simple, yet innovative, tool for recording birds, frogs and other vocal wildlife.
From conducting species inventory and presence/absence surveys to detecting endangered species and monitoring habitat health, the Song Meter Mini 2 captures quality recordings at a breakthrough price.
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This is a really nice unit, easy to set up and nicely robust.
Anabat Chorus
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Chorus gives scientists a simple and rugged tool for recording birds, frogs and other vocal wildlife, as well as bats.
From conducting species inventory and presence/absence surveys to detecting endangered species and monitoring habitat health, the Chorus gives you everything you need to record wildlife, day and/or night (optional second microphone required).
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A nicely put together bird/bat recorder. Compare to Mini above which is just a bird recorder. Do you want optional bats or not?
Song Meter SM4
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Song Meter SM4 gives scientists a simple, yet innovative, tool for recording birds, frogs and other vocal wildlife over long periods.
From conducting species inventory and presence/absence surveys to detecting endangered species and monitoring habitat health, the Song Meter SM4 captures quality recordings during long deployments.
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A really nice unit with deployment times up to 510 hours.
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Titley Ranger
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The Ranger gives scientists a simple and rugged tool for recording birds, frogs and other vocal wildlife, as well as bats.
From conducting species inventory and presence/absence surveys to detecting endangered species and monitoring habitat health, the Ranger gives you everything you need to record wildlife, day and/or night (optional microphones required).
Note that with an acoustic and an ultrasonic microphone you can record birds/frogs/etc as well as bats, at the same time. Scheduling is available.
The Ranger is available with several options for microphones as well as SD card and battery options.
British Bat Calls
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Knowledge of bat echolocation, calls and identification using bat detectors and programs such as BatSound has grown significantly in the last decade. In this practical guide Jon Russ and contributors (Kate Barlow, Philip Briggs & Sandie Sowler) present the latest data in a clear and concise manner.
The book covers topics such as the properties of sound; how bats use sound; bat detection methods; recording devices; analysis software; recording techniques and call analysis. For each species found in the British Isles, information is given on distribution; emergence times; flight and foraging behaviour; habitat; and echolocation including parameters for common measurements.
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If you want to get further 'into' bats and their calls, this is an essential addition to your bookshelf.
Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
Bats are fascinating mammals about which we still have much to learn. As well as using ultrasonic echolocation calls for orientation and while foraging, they also have a complex array of vocalisations for communication. These are known as social calls and are an essential component of their colonial lifestyle.
This book brings together the current state of knowledge of social calls relating to the bat species occurring within Britain and Ireland, with some additional examples from species represented elsewhere in Europe. It includes access to a downloadable library of calls to be used in conjunction with the book.
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When you've mastered echolocation calls it's time to dive (swoop?) into social calls and this book, or the one below, is the place to start.
Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland (second edition)
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
This updated and expanded edition includes additional information and new examples not found in the first edition (further down this page). The call library now includes full spectrum sound files, as well as many new examples. Survey guidelines are included in the book.
The social calls of bats are an area about which relatively little is known, with more research still required to expand our understanding. This book summarises what is understood so far about social calls of the bat species occurring in Britain and Ireland, and north-west Europe.
This new edition contains: foreward by Michel Barataud, author of Acoustic Ecology of European Bats; almost double the number of figures and tables as the first edition; completely overhauled call library, all in full spectrum, with new examples; three entirely new chapters, covering bat-related acoustics, settings for social interactions, and survey guidelines.
An excellent update on the first edition.
Bat Calls of Britain and Europe
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
A comprehensive guide to the calls of the 44 species of bat currently known to occur in Europe. Following on from the popular British Bat Calls by Jon Russ, this new book draws on the expertise of more than forty specialist authors to substantially update all sections, further expanding the volume to include sound analysis and species identification of all European bats.
Written by Jon Russ, a well-respected bat worker and author of British Bat Calls.
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Expanding the focus into bats on the European mainland and substantially updating all sections of British Bat Calls, this is an excellent book.
The Handbook of Acoustic Bat Detection
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
An accessible and comprehensive guide to all things acoustic bat detection. This highly illustrated handbook provides an in-depth understanding of acoustic detection principles, study planning, data handling, properties of bat calls, manual identification of species, automatic species recognition, analysis of results, quality assurance and the background physics of sound.
Written by Volker Runkel, Guido Gerding & Ulrich Marckmann and translated by Iain Macmillan.
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Essential reading if you want to understand the fundamentals of bat detection and call analysis.
Is That a Bat?
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
The occurrence of non-bat sounds during bat surveys can be distracting, intriguing or annoying. Recordings can include difficult to ID species of bat but also sounds not related to bats. This can be especially true when noise triggers such as insects, small mammals or birds look like bat-related noise. Therefore, only knowing what bats sound like is not enough. It's extremely useful to know what other sources of noise look and sound like within the same soundscape. This book will help bat workers, in whatever environment they're in, to be more confident in recognising, categorising and dismissing other sounds. The book includes a substantial downloadable sound library (.wav format) that readers can listen to by ear or process through sound analysis software.
Written by Neil Middleton, a well-respected bat worker and author of Social Calls of the Bats of Britain & Ireland, as well as The Effective Ecologist.
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Essential reading if you want to avoid confusion with non-bat sounds.
Bats of Britain and Europe
With 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Lifetime Backup & Support
This concise and definitive guide presents all 45 bat species that regularly occur in Europe (of which 17 are known to breed in the British Isles). The extensive introduction details the remarkable biology of bats and explores the latest findings in bat evolution, behaviour and echolocation.
This is followed by in-depth species accounts covering life history, conservation status and identification, including echolocation characteristics, and complemented by accurate distribution maps, with the book illustrated throughout with superb colour photography.
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A really good introduction to the bats that are regularly found in Europe, including the British Isles, with distribution maps so you know which you're likely to be hearing.
