Who Is Talking in My Backyard? is a longitudinal citizen science project that engages students and community members in monitoring urban wildlife using acoustic technology. Participants record animal calls in suburban backyards across Australia to help measure and understand urban fauna biodiversity.
The project aims to measure biodiversity in urban areas by conducting short acoustic surveys across the local indigenous seasons each year. Data collected will help establish a baseline for urban wildlife presence, with Year One serving as the reference point for each survey area.
Interested in learning more or participating in the project? Email us, environment@saffronaid.com
What We Record
The project uses the Demeter acoustic meter to record animal calls, which fall into two categories:
- Acoustic animals – birds
- Ultrasonic animals – bats
Project Fact Sheet
Scroll down to listen to some urban birds in Mosman Park, Perth, WA, as well as a bat from Summer Hill, Sydney, NSW.
Because of technical limitations, the recording device can capture either acoustic or ultrasonic sounds, but not both simultaneously.
Surveys to be undertaken each in the local indigenous season, with data being analysed monthly. There are two separate surveys to be undertaken, each over five days, one for acoustic and one for ultrasonic animals.
Here are sample recordings from Perth, Western Australia, in the suburb of Mosman Park and Sydney, New South Wales in Summer Hill.
Want to find out more about the project?
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