We’ve been using BirdJam for what seems like eons now. Basically, the BirdJam software takes your installed bird song CDs and turns your iPod or iPhone into the ultimate bird song machine. Birdjam:
- removes voiceovers announcing the bird on the track
- splits double tracks into individual ones
- adds a plethora of playlists to better organize the birds
- places taxonomic information, written cues for remembering bird songs, and photos (when applicable)
Recently we added three new modules to our ever-growing bird sound library: SE Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, Costa Rica: Caribbean Slope, and Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
The SE Arizona and Sonora, Mexico module matches up with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “Bird Songs of Southeastern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico” by Geoffrey A. Keller. BirdJam’s software adds beautiful photos to each of the Arizona birds (but not the Mexican ones).
The Costa Rican module is synced with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s “Voices of Costa Rican Birds: Caribbean Slope,” CD set by David L. Ross, Jr. and Bret M. Whitney. This module has 220 songs and calls but does not include any bird photos of birds other than those also found in the Stokes guides.
The Yucatan module adds support for the Bird Songs of Mexico: Yucatan Peninsula Volume 1.
We were able to run the software with little effort and the entire process took less time than actually importing the tracks from the physical CDs.
Note: The CDs are sold separately from the BirdJam software.
There are other add-on modules also available through BirdJam including Frogs & Toads and North American Owls. Each of these add-ons costs just $9.99. We highly recommend BirdJam and fully endorse the responsible use of it. [Not using it in highly sensitive bird habitats or around rare or endangered species.]
We have found a conflict with a birding friend when trying to import the Stoke’s CDs into iTunes version 8.1.1 (10) on Windows Vista. If you have this problem uninstall iTunes and download version 7 and then reimport the CDs. Once they are loaded, install version 8.1.1 and it should work fine.
