Please submit them or your feedback on the feedback page which can be found in the footer and under 'More > Contact' on the terralistens.com website
Yes! you have 4 global streaming locations to choose from for free. Just download the app and you’ll be streaming birdsong from any of our 4 free curated locations in no time. The Terra Station is needed if you want to listen and identify your backyard or garden birds - The Station has 2 microphones for listening and various other tech such as MOTUS antennas. Read more at Motus.org.
All countries for listening to the provided locations, however when used in conjunction with the Terra Station in your backyard, the bird identification functionality is only currently available in North America, Central America and Europe. This will be extended later.
The Terra app is FREE to listen to 4 global locations! You can subscribe to add-on locations and extra functionality in later releases
Great question! Terra uses a very important characteristic of birds called flight calls. Most birds migrate at night, and when they do they let out periodic little chirps and cheeps - flight calls - that are specific to their species. In other words, they call out their names! So by listening to the sky we can hear exactly what species are flying over, and in what volumes. With a group of Terras, we will be able to accurately track those migrations all over the country, and eventually the world.
Aside from it being fun? Well for one thing, recent studies have shown that listening to natural sounds can help relax and focus your mind, and reduce stress levels. Connecting to nature can be an almost spiritual experience for many people, and being able to listen while you work, sleep, or just relax is an easy way to get reconnected.
Yes, the Station and companion app are both easy and simple to use (only requiring basic setup and instructions) and No, you don't need any special skills or knowledge. We offer full support as well – just contact us and we’re available to answer any questions you may have about using the Terra Station and app. Find Support options under 'My Terra > Support' in the menu at terralistens.com
Terra setup is a seamless and simple process. Terra offers modular mounting kit that will let you attach it to a wall, a deck, a railing, or simply stake it in your garden or lawn. Power is supplied by a flat cable, which can be plugged in indoors or outside. The flat cable will easily run under a closed window. If you have questions about installation or mounting kits, contact support in the terralistens.com website menu at 'My Terra > Support'
Yes we have a solar panel available in the shop. Find it in the terralistens.com website menu at 'More > Shop & Accessories'
Find the setup instructions in the terralistens.com website menu at 'My Terra > Setup your Terra'. Once you're connected you don't need to do anything else. Bluetooth and wifi connectivity with your phone allows you to connect to speakers and other external devices, or you can listen through headphones.
The app is free, and there will be a subscription for certain premium services on the app. Our goal is to make information accessible and connect people to nature, so we won't make any decisions that would make Terra financially prohibitive to use, and we'll err on the side of keeping our community connected rather than trying to make an extra dollar.
You can install the Terra Station in your garden and use the app and website to listen to your live-stream from anywhere with an internet connection or your mobile data. If you want to move the Terra station, you would need to re-install it under a new wifi network. We offer curated listening locations in the app however, so rather than moving your own Terra Station, you might prefer to utilise the locations all around the world that Terra offers in the app and website.
You’ll be able to listen live to your own Terra Station, to curated listening locations, and monitor sensors in your yard worldwide. When used in conjunction with the Terra Station in your backyard, the bird identification functionality is only currently available in North America, Central America and Europe. This will be extended later. The bird recognition currently works best in the USA, which identifies what birds/animals Terra hears. We’ll be prioritizing the US/Canada first, then the UK and Europe, and then the rest of the world (probably starting with Australia and New Zealand, then South and Central America, etc).
Yes, it's a question of how soon. Our plan is to start with North American birds and then expand out to other parts of the world, likely starting with the UK. The speed at which we do that is going to be partly dependent on the funds we raise, and on how quickly we can implement our algorithms. But rest assured that Terra is not a US only product! We want people to use it around the world.
By tracking the sounds nearby each Terra Station, we can map out bird migration paths and estimate overall populations – since each bird species can be identified by their unique “flight calls” and sound patterns. Previously, scientists and researchers needed to individually mark and track birds – which is far less efficient than using Terra across the globe.
The Internet of Wildlife is an innovative concept developed at CTT to help gather data from radio-tagged birds. Large birds carry larger transmitters, and so they have longer battery life and range, and connect with cell or radio towers more frequently. Small birds have small transmitters (no more than 3% of their body weight), so their devices are weaker and have less range. In order collect data from all these transmitters more frequently, CTT created a system that allows transmitters to not only connect to radio and cell towers, but to each other! That way, if a small bird passes an eagle, that small bird's data will get downloaded to the eagle's transmitter, and then passed on next time the eagle passes a receiving tower. That's the Internet of Wildlife! It's amazing to think that we could have birds way up in the arctic no where near a receiving tower, but that a wandering eagle will still pick up their data and bring it back into range as it travels south. Pretty cool!
Not yet - bats use frequencies that are beyond normal microphones (over 20 KHz), and require special equipment to pick up. But once the Terra project is going, we'd like to produce either a version of Terra or an accessory that will extend its listening range into those specialized frequencies.
Terra features Digital Signal Processing, or DSP. e intend to build in the ability to have control over some of these parameters. Notch filters would be used to filter out specific frequencies such as hums from air conditioners, pool pumps, and other continuous mechanical noises. Band pass, low pass and high pass filters can be used to filter out certain frequency ranges, such as road noise, cars, wind, etc. Terra will work to identify some of these common noises to help you filter out what you don’t want automatically. No filtering technology is perfect, but unnatural noises will be greatly reduced.
No, only you are able to listen to your Terra. In the future we may build features whereby you can share your Terra stream with friends and family if you choose to. These features are still being considered so if you have ideas or suggestions for what you'd find valuable, please submit them on our feedback page (link in footer)
Much like how smart speakers and smart home devices can detect your voice, we also use it to detect it when a human is talking. We then mix in pleasant artificial utterances that make it extremely difficult to impossible to understand what is being said. While no obfuscation technology is perfect, we believe that this will discourage the use of Terra for eavesdropping and other security applications, and protect you and your neighbors’ privacy -- even more so than popular security camera products. Since only you can listen to your own Terra, and only processed bird song is sent to our servers for analysis on an opt-in basis, we believe that Terra provides you with a high degree of privacy while providing wonderful listening enjoyment.
Terra does not record continuous audio. You can only listen to your own Terra, live. If a bird song candidate is detected, only that audio is sent securely to our servers for analysis. The bird song candidate sound also has high pass filtering, further reducing the unintentional recording of human voice. It’s important to us to keep your privacy intact, so we’ll make sure that the technology accomplishes that. Audio is also securely transmitted over Bluetooth locally within your home and securely transmitted and encrypted to your smartphone. Note that some local jurisdictions outside USA, Canada, UK, EU, AU/NZ have special requirements and we will comply with any local regulations.
Terra ships worldwide and accurate shipping costs are shown in the shopping cart at the time of your purchase. You may be responsible for VAT, taxes, customs duties and any other special costs associated with shipping in your local area.
The Terra Station works in all countries with unfettered internet connections - you can listen to your backyard birds and stream birdsong from other locations using the app. Note that the bird identification functionality is only currently available in North and Central America plus Europe
It depends on the strength of your wifi setup. If your other devices like phone or tablet will connect at the distance, than your Terra Station will also connect. In addition, Terra has larger antennae than those devices do, so it should have a longer range.
No, you can use the app completely standalone! Just download the app and you'll be streaming birdsong from any of our 4 free curated locations in no time. The terra device is needed if you want to stream and identify your backyard or garden birds.
