Responses to my inquiry have tapered off so I will provide a summary of responses now.
First, the WIRELESS DEVICES. Most birders use a baby monitor for this, with a transmitter outside and a receiver inside the home. The receiver and the transmitter of the one that we have, which recently broke, had to be plugged into electrical outlets. The big advantage of these wireless devices is that you can carry your receiver to whatever room you will be spending time in and just plug it in. The transmitter can also be moved but needs to be near an electrical outlet, unless you have a unit that uses batteries. Most people have had positive experiences with these units although wind and background noise, like traffic, can be annoying. Higher frequency calls, such as those of Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Blackburnian Warbler do not transmit very well. Also, perhaps depending on the specific unit, it may change the pitch or distort the call slightly so that you may not recognize it right away. But overall, they do a good job of reproducing the louder species - Robin, Carolina Wren, Titmouse, Blue Jay, etc. I only occasionally would hear warblers on our unit but Betsy, with better hearing in the higher pitch range, would hear them more often. We would also hear many migrants like Towhee, Wood Thrush, Mourning Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, etc. Baby monitors are relatively cheap and can often be found at yard sales for $5 or $10, brand new for $30 and up. Another completely wireless device that used batteries instead of plugging into outlets was called "Mother Nature's Monitor" and was made by Feldstein and Associates. It is no longer being manufactured but perhaps may still be found on Amazon or eBay. One thing I wondered about is how frequently you would have to change the batteries - roughly once a month, one user recalled. Although the WIRED DEVICES do not offer the convenience of wireless at the same price, it does appear that wired devices have better sound quality. Supposedly, whatever you can hear outside standing where the microphone is, will be transmitted accurately to the speaker on the inside of your home. The only wired device marketed for people to enjoy the birds outside of their home that I am aware of, is called "Nature's Window 3", sold online by TMB Studios. One respondent has owned this unit for about ten years and absolutely loves it. It is much more expensive than a baby monitor, especially when you include the wire and the optional plug-in connector. The unit is $124 with a standard 6' wire with small microphone on the end (called a "probe wire"). For a 30' probe wire, add $59, a 50' wire, add $116, a 70' wire, add $149. If you want the convenience of moving the speaker to different rooms of your home, as with a wireless device, then you would need the optional plug-in connector for another $69. Let's say you want a 30' wire for your finished basement and a 30' wire for your kitchen, your cost would be 124+59X2+69 = $311! And of course, you have to run the wire through your window. If you open and close your window frequently, it will likely damage the wire. Should that happen, you will be glad that you purchased the optional plug-in connector because otherwise, you would have to buy a new unit if the wire cannot be repaired! For wind, the company suggests using some kind of microphone shield, such as one made from packing foam. They claim this helps tremendously. For additional information, or to purchase this unit, go to this link: http://www.tmbstudios.com/proddetail.asp?prod=nw3 For those with the know-how, there are likely other options with wireless microphone/speaker presentation systems. I think such systems are geared toward human rather than avian performances but if you found one that handled bird calls well, this might be the way to go. So it comes down to higher quality versus lower price. Also, the lower price units will give you the flexibility of listening in different rooms of your home, which you cannot get from the wired device, unless you spend a lot more money. Additional suggestions are welcomed. Good ear-birding! Willie ------------------ Willie D'Anna Betsy Potter Wilson, NY dannapotterATroadrunner.com http://www.betsypottersart.com <http://www.betsypottersart.com/> 2013 Big Year: http://www.betsypottersart.com/willie-s-photos/2013-big-year Big Year List: <http://www.happtech.com/BigYearDanna> http://www.happtech.com/BigYearDanna -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
