Yes. HydroVision AI can identify species from audio recordings — birdsong, frog calls, and other wildlife sounds. Hold your device steady, keep quiet, record a few seconds, and the AI tells you what you're hearing.
From the Biodiversity Monitor, open HydroVision AI:
- Tap the HydroVision AI card to open the identification overlay
- Switch to the Audio tab (alongside the Image tab)
- Tap Record — the app listens through your device microphone
- Hold the phone steady, minimise wind noise, stay quiet yourself
- Record for 5–20 seconds. Longer isn't necessarily better — a clear 5-second clip beats a noisy 30-second one.
- Stop recording. The audio uploads and the AI analyses it.
- A suggestion appears. Accept it to pre-fill the form, or dismiss and try again.
- Clear territorial birdsong — robin, blackbird, song thrush, wren, chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap, etc.
- Distinctive frog choruses — common frog, natterjack, pool frog
- Some owls — tawny, little owl
- Some obvious wader and waterfowl calls — curlew, lapwing, oystercatcher
- Flight calls versus song calls of the same species (different sounds, may confuse)
- Species pairs that sound similar (reed warbler / marsh warbler; willow warbler / chiffchaff)
- Very quiet, distant, or partial vocalisations
- Noisy environments (wind, roadside, multiple species overlapping)
- Non-vocal sounds (splashes, snaps) — it's tuned for calls and song
As with image ID: treat the result as a suggestion, not a verdict. Check the reference, check against what you're hearing, and record at a broader level if you're uncertain.
- Get close if safely possible. Phone microphones are directional but they drop off fast.
- Wind is your enemy. If there's a breeze, cup the phone with your hand to shield the mic, or wait for a lull.
- Record the repeat. Most territorial song repeats — record a full phrase or two, not just a single note.
- Don't talk. The AI will happily suggest "Homo sapiens" if you do.
- Stay still. Fabric rustle on your jacket will drown out a warbler.
- The bird is singing but hidden (leaves, reeds, high in canopy)
- Dawn chorus — multiple species, impossible to photo them all, but you can log several with sequential recordings
- Frog surveys at night — images are impossible, calls are diagnostic
- Acoustic monitoring generally — bats, crickets, orthoptera
Recording needs your permission, and the request only comes up once. If you said no, or you never saw it, turn the microphone back on for Hydroscape in your device settings and try again: look for Hydroscape in the list of apps, then the microphone switch. If you are reading this on the website rather than in the app, it is your browser that holds the permission, not the phone: open the site permissions for this page and allow the microphone there.
- It leaves your device. The clip goes through our server to an outside AI service working under contract to us, which is what reads it. Our privacy policy names that service and says what it does with the clip and for how long.
- Hydroscape does not keep it. The clip is used to get you a suggestion. It is not stored against your record and it does not go on the map. The species you accept goes on the record; the sound does not.
- Watch what else is in the clip. A microphone records everything, so if somebody is talking near you their voice goes too. Wait for a quiet moment, which is better for the identification anyway.
- It is optional. Every form takes your report without it.