miketaylor
Well-known member
Hi all,
I'd like to find out about people's experience with the use of hearing aids to help hear high pitched bird calls.
In recent years I've noticed that I can no longer hear some higher pitched bird calls, e.g. Redwings' 'seep' calls when flying overhead, and I can't hear crickets any more (in the UK). I'm aware that hearing at higher frequencies can deteriorate as one gets older, but it's a bit frustrating as I used to be much sharper at detecting birds on call than by sight (e.g. detecting a Red-throated Pipit on Scilly by its call and then seeing it drop into a field).
I got my hearing checked out by the NHS and found out that I had "mild to moderate" hearing loss above 5kHz, and "borderline" hearing loss in the normal speech range. They said I may benefit from hearing aids, so they gave me Oticon Synergy Sense BTE digital hearing aids. I'm told that these are very good, especially as they are free, but I keep wondering about the top of the range hearing aids, which could cost up to £5k for a pair. They have improved my hearing, but I still find problems hearing bird calls. I think the cutoff frequency is a bit higher, but now some of the calls sound a bit different from before (i.e. I'm now hearing the lower frequency part of the call, rather than not hearing it at all before).
I'm sure many other birders must have similar issues - especially as most seem to be of my generation (60+)!
It would be good to hear of other people's experience...
Mike
I'd like to find out about people's experience with the use of hearing aids to help hear high pitched bird calls.
In recent years I've noticed that I can no longer hear some higher pitched bird calls, e.g. Redwings' 'seep' calls when flying overhead, and I can't hear crickets any more (in the UK). I'm aware that hearing at higher frequencies can deteriorate as one gets older, but it's a bit frustrating as I used to be much sharper at detecting birds on call than by sight (e.g. detecting a Red-throated Pipit on Scilly by its call and then seeing it drop into a field).
I got my hearing checked out by the NHS and found out that I had "mild to moderate" hearing loss above 5kHz, and "borderline" hearing loss in the normal speech range. They said I may benefit from hearing aids, so they gave me Oticon Synergy Sense BTE digital hearing aids. I'm told that these are very good, especially as they are free, but I keep wondering about the top of the range hearing aids, which could cost up to £5k for a pair. They have improved my hearing, but I still find problems hearing bird calls. I think the cutoff frequency is a bit higher, but now some of the calls sound a bit different from before (i.e. I'm now hearing the lower frequency part of the call, rather than not hearing it at all before).
I'm sure many other birders must have similar issues - especially as most seem to be of my generation (60+)!
It would be good to hear of other people's experience...
Mike