u/richardhoeg

I have two Birdnet-Pi's deployed within 50 yards of each other, but which get rather dramatic different bird ID's. However I do not believe either box is wrong in their birdsong identifications. Both Pi boxes are 100% identical in terms of both hardware and Pi configurations. From a setup vantage point both boxes require a confidence level of 75%, and listen for 18 seconds with zero overlap ... thus 6 snippets of sound per file.

There are some HUGE differences between the two systems aside from 50 yards between the microphones:

• Amity is near my prairie grass and has a much more "open" sound corridor to the stream across the road which is about 125 yards distant
• Greenwood is only a few yards from the forest edge, and within 5 yards of my nearest of three birdfeeders
• In general, my basic habitat is Boreal forest, and my home is about 800 yards uphill from Lake Superior. I live on the northern edge of Duluth right where forest meets town.

Anyhow, I have provided both images of yesterday's ID's as placement of your BirdNET-Pi microphone makes a big difference. For instance, my Amity Pi box picks up both my local Great Horned Owls and Belted Kingfishers much more often than my Greenwood Pi box. If I only used my Greenwood Pi Box I might think both my owls and kingfishers are rarely around, which is definitely not true. In summary, give significant thought to birding habitat in terms of Pi box placement.

Since June I have been working upon an "off the grid" BirdNET-Pi project for Hawk Ridge. In case you are not familiar with the "Ridge", it stands 600 feet above Lake Superior at Gitchi Gammi's western end, and is a premier bird migration spot both in the spring and fall. While the location is fantastic for birds, the Ridge has zero power, and may only be reached in the winter on foot via a long hike through snow that gets very deep ... as in feet. Oh yes, did I mention that in January it is not unusual for overnight lows to reach -20F and colder. Thus, Installation of a Pi listening box was a bit challenging.

Anyhow, our Pi is now up and running with its ID's automatically uploaded to BirdWeather. Some of my learnings have included

• Installing a low power cellular modem (wifi turned off to conserve power) which is hooked up directly to our Pi box directly via ethernet (it's wifi is also turned off). The router / cellular modem is "industrial strength" in terms of known to work outside in extreme operating conditions
• Getting power from solar arrays, but also getting the arrays off the ground, but not too high up. One wants snow to both blow off and through the "grid/mesh" table. However, putting arrays on taller towers would open them to 80+ mph winds coming off Lake Superior and being pushed up the hill. I know from weather service reports that winds down in the harbor are clocked at these velocities and higher on the tops of bridges ... and winds increase in speed as they go up hills.
• Optimizing when the birdsong listening station is "turned off". Via Linux commands in "crontab" we run our Pi throughout the day except between 10 am and 6 pm. This allows Hawk Ridge to monitor overnight birdcalls including owls, the "morning sing", the "evening sing" and songbird migration movement till 10 am. Via Raspberry-Pi Connect I may adjust these times easily as sunrise and sunset change throughout the year. At present in Duluth, Minnesota sunrise is at about 6:05 am and sunset is at 8:18 pm. If power consumption during the winter months and solar array recharging allows, we will increase operational hours. The system uses an Ankor Solix C1000 and 200 watt solar arrays.

If you want to read more about this project, here is my online report ...

https://www.365daysofbirds.com/2026/08/04/hawk-ridge-bird-song-listening-station-birdnet-pi-off-the-grid/

Here is the link to our BirdNET-Pi via BirdWeather ...

https://app.birdweather.com/stations/28008

The Hawk Ridge Pi station is offline for some final configurations. I anticipate it coming back up Tuesday, August 18th in the evening.

In fact over the past 12 months I have built and installed Pi listening stations throughout NE Minnesota including both the Sax-Zim Bog Welcome Center and Chik-Wauk Nature Center at the end of the Gunflint Trail and within a few hundred yards of our border with Canada ...

https://www.365daysofbirds.com/2025/10/10/what-birds-are-singing-where-you-are-flying-or-driving-walking-etc/

Sometimes you don't want a close-up of the owl! Photo taken just before sunset yesterday evening in the South Dakota Buffalo Gap National Grasslands with Badlands National Park in the background. You should be able to find the Burrowing Owl and the Jackrabbit.

As a fyi, I am a naturalist based in northern Minnesota. If you want to view more images from last nights sunset on the prairie, browse to my 100% non commercial website which has zero ads or sponsored content. Here is the post