Whether you’re trying to spot a Blue Jay flitting about in the trees at Keene Creek Park or you’re headed off on a multi-country expedition to see as many of the 11,131 species of birds as you can, there’s a lot to love about birdwatching. If you’re among the more than 10% of people in the U.S. with hearing loss, you must remember birdwatching’s best friend: hearing aids.
The Birdwatching Benefits of Hearing Aids
There are two ways hearing aids can improve your birdwatching experience:
- Binaural hearing. Your ears use a few things to identify the origin of a sound: the interaural time difference (ITD) and the interaural level difference (ILD). The ITD measures the difference in time it takes sound to reach each ear, and the ILD measures the difference in volume at each ear. When you have hearing loss, the ears may have difficulty using those factors to determine where a sound originates[1]—a bit of an issue when it comes to finding the direction of your favorite bird. Fortunately, wearing two hearing aids is a great way to replicate your ears’ natural sound localization abilities, allowing you to look in the right spot for your favorite flying friends.
- Frequency shifting. Birdsong is often the first thing to disappear with hearing loss. That’s because hearing loss usually affects the higher-pitched sounds first. You might also notice that children’s voices are harder to discern than adults’. Hearing aids address that by lowering the frequency of the sounds they pick up, allowing you to understand the specific call of your favorite sparrow, hawk, falcon or Bluebird.
In addition to the benefits your hearing aids offer while you’re out birdwatching, they can also help you study up on your bird calls. Simply connect your devices to your smartphone or laptop via Bluetooth® and explore your favorite birdwatching websites or video series that describe the unique calls of the birds you’re hoping to spot.
Schedule Your Hearing Aid Appointment
If you don’t already have hearing aids, or it’s been a while since your last device service, call Hearing Wellness Center today to schedule an appointment with one of our device specialists.
[1] ¹ Zheng, Y., Swanson, J., Koehnke, J., & Guan, J. (2022). Sound localization of listeners with normal hearing, impaired hearing, hearing aids, bone-anchored hearing instruments, and cochlear implants: A review. American Journal of Audiology, 31(3), 819–834. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_AJA-22-00006