Birds

Birds are a key indicator of biodiversity, and therefore important for us to monitor in detail as the nature recovers across the OpenLiving Labs.

Audio detection of birds

Across the labs, we have several sensors that record bird songs and calls (otherwise known as acoustic loggers) to identify the birds we have around the site. We employ the use of high tech but low-cost Audiomoth sensors, so named after moths which can detect sounds at extremely high frequencies.

By recording sounds across the site at a frequency range typical of birds (2 – 12 kHz), we can filter out much of the urban noise and really focus in on the birds calling. The current schedule is to record during the Dawn Chorus—a highly active period of birdsong in the early morning. This captures a huge amount of data, more than we have time to sift through, and therefore we are utilising cutting-edge technological advances in bird-audio identification using the machine learning BirdNET platform. This software allows us to upload a large number of audio clips for rapid identification, filtering the outputs by confidence of identification and co-ordinates to give the highest plausible identification. The outputs are then manually verified to be plausible in a batch-sample and recorded on our database.

An example of some of the species detected by the acoustic loggers and identified by BirdNET in August 2025 can be seen in the table below, including their Red List status.

Common name	Scientific name	UK Conservation status
Barn Owl	Tyto alba	Green
Common Buzzard	Buteo buteo	Green
Common Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus collybita	Green
Common Kingfisher	Alcedo atthis	Green
Eurasian Blackcap	Sylvia atricapilla	Green
Eurasian Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus	Green
Eurasian Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis	Green
Eurasian Jackdaw	Corvus monedula	Green
Eurasian Jay	Garrulus glandarius	Green
Eurasian Magpie	Pica pica	Green
Eurasian Siskin	Spinus spinus	Green
Eurasian Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris	Green
Eurasian Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes	Amber
European Robin	Erithacus rubecula	Green
Goldcrest	Regulus regulus	Green
Gray Heron	Ardea cinerea	Green
Gray Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea	Not assessed
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major	Green
Great Tit	Parus major	Green
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker	Dryobates minor	Red
Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus	Green
Marsh Tit	Poecile palustris	Red
Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba	Green
Redwing	Turdus iliacus	Not assessed
Carrion Crow	Corvus corone	Not assessed
Stock Dove	Columba oenas	Amber
Tree Pipit	Anthus trivialis	Red
Wood Warbler	Phylloscopus sibilatrix	Red