What's It About?

From tracking elusive Night Parrots in Australia to recording nearly 200 bird species in Ireland, we’ll reveal the transformative role acoustic monitoring is playing in bird conservation. 

Join ornithologist Seán Ronayne, ecologist Dr. Nick Leseberg, and Professor John Quinn as they share how passive acoustic monitoring is advancing biodiversity research and protecting vulnerable species. Discover practical insights on survey protocols, data analysis, and using bioacoustics to inform conservation strategies. 

Whether you're a biologist, ecologist, or conservation enthusiast, this session will inspire you to harness the power of sound for species protection. Join us!

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Developing an Acoustic Detection Protocol for a Rare and Cryptic Species

Speaker: Dr. Nick Leseberg | Postdoctoral Fellow | University of Queensland, Australia

Acoustic survey is now a commonly used method for detecting and monitoring vocal species, particularly cryptic species or those that may be difficult to survey using conventional methods. When the first population of live Night Parrots, a notoriously elusive species, was found in 2013, more than a century after they were thought to have disappeared, it quickly became clear that acoustic monitoring would play a key role in their detection and monitoring. At the time, there was little research into how acoustics could be employed to methodically survey the landscape for a species that was both cryptic and occurred at a very low density. We will present the steps we took to develop a robust landscape-scale survey protocol for the fascinating and Critically Endangered Night Parrot using Song Meter acoustic recorders—and how this convention has been deployed to improve our knowledge of the species.

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Wildlife Acoustics and Irish Wildlife Sounds

Speaker: Seán Ronayne | Ornithologist & Author | Cobh, County Cork, Ireland

Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, Co. Cork, is on a mission to record the sounds of every bird species in Ireland (nearly 200 birds!). Often joined by his partner, Alba, he travels to some of the country's most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands. Seán has now recorded 199 species, amassing a collection of more than 12,000 recordings. He has largely used Song Meter Mini acoustic recorders to achieve this goal, and today, he uses these sounds to share the beauty and wonder of Irish wildlife and the serious threats much of it faces.

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Regenerative Agriculture and Biodiversity: Insights from Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Songbirds

Speaker: Dr. John Quinn | Professor & Director of Environmental Studies, Furman University | South Carolina, United States

Professor of Biology John Quinn will delve into ongoing research using passive acoustic monitoring to track songbirds within regenerative agricultural systems in North America. He'll explore how these populations change and adapt across seasons, providing insights into the impact of regenerative farming practices on biodiversity and ecosystem health. John will share his experiences collecting and analyzing acoustic data from farmland, highlighting this environment's unique challenges and opportunities. He will also discuss how this data can be used to assess the effectiveness of different regenerative approaches and inform biodiversity reporting for improved conservation outcomes.