The Davidson Farm Bird Project is a sound-based observatory of bird life on a private 100-acre farm in northeastern Pennsylvania, where forest, orchard, and pasture meet at the base of the Pocono Plateau.
Using open-source tools and continuous audio monitoring, the project records 24/7 across multiple stations. Artificial intelligence (BirdNET) scans these recordings for birdsong and vocalizations, producing a real-time archive of the land’s avian soundscape. Weather data and occasional visual sightings help add context to what is heard.
But this isn’t about proving what species are “here.” It’s about noticing patterns. Watching shifts. Honoring both the certainty and ambiguity in what’s detected.
This work began in 2025 with the goal of building a long-term sound record of the farm — one that could help us understand how habitat, season, and species behavior change over time. As more data accumulates, we begin to hear the story this land wants to tell.
The project is privately maintained but publicly viewable. You’re invited to explore the dashboard, browse species detections, and view ongoing weather and seasonal data as it unfolds.
This project is built with open-source tools, custom scripts, and homegrown dashboards. Where possible, we share the code and infrastructure behind the project to help others build their own.
The GitHub repo for our monitoring dashboard and analysis scripts is available here:
github.com/hennet8148
If you’re a researcher, student, developer, or just curious about how it works, we welcome you to explore it — and reach out if you’d like to build something similar.