Eavesdropping on Birds: How Acoustic Monitoring is Transforming Ornithology with Tessa Rhinehart

First Friday (Adult+)
Eavesdropping on Birds: How Acoustic Monitoring is Transforming Ornithology with Tessa Rhinehart

Friday, December 4, 2026
11:00 a.m. – Noon

$8 Adults; $6 Nature Center members
$6 Children 9 – 15
Reservations appreciated, walk-ins welcome.

Join Tessa to learn how acoustic monitoring and tools like Merlin are revolutionizing the way we study birds!

Over the last decade, many ornithologists have begun to gather such information at unprecedented scales using acoustic monitoring. This approach combines two recent technological innovations: affordable sound recorders that collect massive amounts of acoustic data, and machine learning algorithms that can rapidly identify bird calls within these recordings. This talk will explore how acoustic monitoring works and how scientists use it to study and conserve bird populations.

We will look “under the hood” of automated sound identification tools like Merlin Sound ID and discuss how reliable they are. We will hear stories of how conservation biologists are using this technology to help bring bird populations back from the brink. Finally, we will look ahead to emerging frontiers in bioacoustics, such as tracking individual birds by their distinctive voices, mapping birds’ positions and interactions in real time, and uncovering the habitats that serve as nurseries for our most vulnerable species.

About the speaker
Tessa Rhinehart is a computational ecologist who develops methods for remotely monitoring animals using autonomous sensors. Her research aims to reveal bird behavior and ecology at a scale and level of detail that would be otherwise impossible for human observation to achieve. Tessa’s expertise includes acoustically triangulating birds’ singing locations to understand their habitat use and behavior, studying how to handle errors made by automated sound-identification algorithms, and studying prey availability for birds using nocturnal “photo booths” for moths. Tessa received her PhD in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently a David H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellow based at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Special Information: If you’d like to bring a packed lunch, you can visit attendees and the speaker after the program.