David Mann, Haikubox's founder, sat down with Jacques from The Beet podcast to talk about gardening and birds. You can listen to the podcast or watch on YouTube.
As a trained scientist with a PhD in bioacoustics from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, David has published numerous scientific papers and is an expert on the many sounds animals make to communicate. In the oceans, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is used to collect recordings under challenging conditions where the animals can't be seen. Dolphins, fish and shrimp all have evolved to make a variety of sounds that scientists continue to study.
Creating a garden that is bird-friendly and filled with native plants benefits the local ecosystem and can boost your harvest. Birds eat millions of crop-damaging insects each season, they feast on berries and seeds, and can help with rodent control.
Haikubox shares information about neighborhood birds with gardeners who can take action by planting birds' favorite foods plants and eliminating pesticides, herbicides and rodenticides. Haikubox is also being used for community science and allows coast-to-coast data collection and study of birds' behaviors.