About
Read about / follow Gary as he cycles around Rwanda with ParaChirp in his napsack ready to capture audio of some of the rarest birds on the planet. Audio recordings evidence the presence and behaviour of birds even when they cannot be seen by the camera - in a wood or thicket. Its one of the best ways of identifying different species and even track their journeys around the globe.
What is ParaChirp?
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ParaChirp is an acoustic reflector for use with a smartphone or other recording device.
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The anticipated users are citizen scientists gaining greater interaction with and understanding of birds.
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PC is tested and proven in the most arduous of environments of Africa and proves top be suitably robust and effective.
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Key to its success is its DIY nature which can be assembled and maintained very easily.
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Laser cut from sheet material ParaChirp is customisable for a variety of specialist applications
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PC is deliberately inexpensive so as to be accessible globally. In order to reach the farthest destinations of wild birds we need to equip the most local people with the best affordable technology.
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50% of people in Rwanda own a smart phone.
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PC makes high quality recordings suitable for export to databases such as EBird. PC has already contributed to achieveing awards for wildlife tour-guides in Africa.
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ParaChirp enhances the audio of your device for use with apps such as Merlin, making your bird identification ever more accurate.
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WAV files can be generated for the highest quality recordings that you intend to share with Ebird.
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ParaChirp is deliberately low tech making it less susceptible to theft or confiscation during travel.
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ParaChirp can be disassembled into smaller parts that distribute around your luggage thus increasing space for other things.
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The pricing of ParaChirp is set to sponsor globel ownership.
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It is anticipated that a Parachirp might be an ideal gift for a birder who would keep a PC in the garden shed or in the car to be ready for that serendipitous encounter with wildlife.
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PC represents a lower risk security hazard from theft of that of a high end recording device.
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A well prepared PC can spring into action with a smart phone in a matter of seconds!
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ParaChirp P29 'ParaGo'
As its name suggests ParaGo is the latest in 29 development models. P29 is a folding version of P28 Turaco - the version used by Planet Birdsong in Rwanda. ParaGo gives you the option of fixed, folding or removable petals.
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Disclaimer
ParaChirp is not designed or intended for surveillance
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Education
ParaChirp is an ideal way of engaging youngsters with birdsong.
Sets of ParaChirps can be purchased at a discount
PCs can be customised by painting which is one way of exploring not just camouflage but behaviours that disturb birdlife and ways in which we can behave to see more birdlife by better understanding birds.
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CREST awards are available for use with ParaChirp:
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KS2
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Parabolas are common place in technology
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Discover the principles behind a device that gathers sounds from a single source and isolates unwanted sounds
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KS2/3 Camouflage makes things merge with their backgrounds.
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Design camou schemes for Parachirp in a range of environments from urban to arctic
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KS3
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As birds migrate they develop local 'accents'.
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Search a birdsong database and use software to view the wave form. Compare wave forms of birds from different regions and idenitify regional accents. You may be able to work in collaboration with people living in other migratory destinations.
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KS3/4
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Create a tupeface or font for the name of a bird based on its wave form as seen using software like Raven, Audacity or OcenAudio
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KS4
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Record birdsong and use this for creative outcomes.
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Design a chair or a desk lamp using the forms seen on graphic representations of birdsong​
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KS5
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Some Birds have never been recorded in the wild
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Explore ways of sharing recordings so as to identify a single individual​​​​​​
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WATCH THIS!! The latest Planet Birdsong publication of their work in RWANDA with ParaChirp as central to citizen scientists using smartphones to capture, edit and share recordings of rare birds.
Still from the first visit Hillary made to train the first group of guides in the use of ParaChirp and recording processing for sharing with EBird.
Recordings
What do we do with our recordings?
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Use live with a bird recognition app to increase accuracy of identification
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Record with free app on the phone to share with 'E-Bird'
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Use with apps on the device to edit and process sounds for creativity (Garage Band, Thumb Jam, Voice Jam etc)
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Export to your PC apps such as Audacity, OcenAudio or Raven to visualise the birdsong as a graphic.
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The higher pitch sounds are higher up the scale and the louder they are they change more yellow from blue which are the quietest sounds. These can be used for creative purposes or for analysing the birdsong.
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School and small group activities
Piloting our lastest small group activity for budding birders - or even experienced ones!
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Aims:
1. To engage with birdsong as an interest through the process and technology of recording birdsong accurately.
2. To provide an inexpensive means of optimising the recording ability of domestic devices, mainly smart phones in order to make recording accessible as widely as possible.
3. To explore a range of outcomes made possible by recording birdsong not least to engage at a level normally associated with high end specialist equipment and professional skills.
4. To engage at an ever younger age to which end the technology must be robust, simple and inexpensive.
5. To engender a community of young birders who share their recordings across the global community and engage in activities that benefit birds.
​​Why Audio?
With a multitude of Educational and domestic projects, campaigns and events already associated with bird watching - ParaChirp seeks to make Bird recording a 'thing'. But why?​​​​​​
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Audio benefits over visual data capture in many ways -
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Audio gives clues as to the flight paths of species through their regional accents and mimicry.
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Audio can be captured to enhance video recordings,
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Audio is less affected by obscuring vegetation and so bird identification is possible with no visual access to the bird.
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Audio is actually more likely to be the initial contact with a bird given that the call is heard long before sighting is possible.
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There are many UK birds such as sky larks that are relatively difficult to photograph but easy to record. The song is extremely complex and interesting leading to a range of creative outcomes.
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