Scott Slotterbeck

It really depends on the bird, believe it or not. I've recorded a tree full of scrub jays early in the morning and the sound was just about constant! I'm getting ready to do the same thing, sort of. Besides getting the birds on the ground, and in the trees, I'm hoping to get them on the wing. That means that they are generally not crying out, but the wings might make enough sound to record. I'm making my own parabolic reflector/mike outfit because I don't envision doing this many more times (more of a one-of type of thing). So, it might be hard to get a good sound level for birds that are changing distance (I plan on doing a lot of sitting in the cool evening to get much useful sound), but easy if they are social birds grouped together in the trees.