Automated classification of avian vocal activity using acoustic indices in regional and heterogeneous datasets

Acoustic indices combined with clustering and classification approaches have been increasingly used to automate identification of the presence of vocalizing taxa or acoustic events of interest. While most studies using this approach standardize data collection and study design parameters at the project or study level, recent trends in ecological research are to investigate patterns at regional or continental scales. Large-scale studies often require collaboration between research groups and integration of data from multiple sources to fulfill objectives, which can lead to variation in recording equipment and data collection protocols.

Our objectives were to determine how analytical approaches and variation in data collection and processing that is typical of regional acoustic monitoring programs influences accuracy when identifying vocal activity in migratory breeding birds. We used data from three regional datasets in Northern Alberta, Northern British Columbia, and Southern and Cen...