Nature Sound Recording and Identification

A phone or dedicated audio recording device

Headphones for careful playback

A notebook for labeling each recording

The Merlin Bird ID app or online audio libraries for identification

A quiet outdoor location with diverse natural sounds

Choose a sonically rich location — a park with a pond, a forest edge, a meadow, or even your backyard at dawn when birds are most vocal. Early morning is best for bird recordings.

Find your first sound source. A singing bird is the obvious starting point. Hold your phone close, minimize movement (fabric rustling ruins recordings), and record for 30-60 seconds. Note the time, location, and what you think the source is.

Move to a new spot. Record flowing water — a stream, a fountain, rain in a gutter. Record wind through different trees — pine trees make a different sound than oaks. Record insects — bees buzzing, crickets chirping, cicadas droning.

Collect at least 8-10 different recordings in one session. Each should be a distinct sound source.

Back home, listen through headphones. You'll hear details the naked ear missed in the field — background birds, distant frogs, layers of insect sounds. Identify each sound using Merlin (for birds), online audio libraries, or field guides with audio.

Label each file: source species/type, location, date, time, weather conditions. You now have the beginning of a nature sound library.

Minimize wind noise by shielding the microphone with your hand or cupping it with a piece of fabric. Wind is the enemy of outdoor recording.

The Merlin app's Sound ID feature is extraordinary — it listens in real time and identifies bird species from their songs. Use it in the field for instant ID.

Record at different times: dawn for bird choruses, midday for insects, dusk for frogs and crickets, night for owls. The same location sounds completely different every few hours.

Nature sound recording trains deep listening skills. Kids who practice this hear details in all sound environments that others miss entirely.