First results of acoustic monitoring for common bird species in the Ukrainian Carpathians

In 2023, the Frankfurt Zoological Society (https://fzs.org) initiated acoustic monitoring of common bird species in the Ukrainian Carpathians as part of the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS, https://pecbms. info). As the pilot territories were chosen the «Roztochchya» Nature Reserve and the national natural parks Carpathian, «Boikivshchyna», «Skolivsky Beskydy», «Zacharovanyi Kray», «Cheremoskyi», «Yavorivskyi» and «Hutsulshchyna». Supported by WildLife Acoustics, the Catalan Ornithological Institute (Barselona, Spain), and the Czech Ornithological Society (Prague, Czech Republic), the study included 20 acoustic receivers: 4 Song Meter Mini Acoustic Recorders (SM mini) and 16 Song Meter Micro (SM micro). Audio files obtained during the research were processed using BirdNET software in Raven Pro 1.6. BirdNET V2.2, based on deep learning, automates the identification of bird species through their vocalizations. The effectiveness of BirdNET was manually assessed for 5232 indications, confirming its reliability at higher «score» values. The study demonstrated its efficiency in recognizing a significant number of background bird species. However, it revealed inefficiencies in identifying certain species and analysed the associated errors. As a result, 66 bird species were identified, including listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. As a result of listening to acoustic files and deciphering the obtained sonograms, 66 bird species were identified, of which 50 species were expectedly classified under the order Passeriformes, 3 species were representatives of the order Falconiformes, 2 species belonged to the order Columbiformes, 1 species was a representative of the order Cuculiformes, 1 species belonged to Upupiformes, and 6 species represented the order Piciformes. According to the division of birds into ecological groups, dendrophiles dominated with 59 species; campophiles were represented by 3 species; limnophiles included 2 species; sclerophiles were represented by 2 species. The frequencies of occurrence of these species can serve as indicators of ecosystem stability in protected areas.

Keywords: Acoustic monitoring, Ukrainian Carpathians, birds, nature protected areas, sonograms, ROC-analysis.