RSPB woodland dawn chorus helps to test over-50s’ hearing with birdsong
Recorded by a sound and film crew who are used to capturing the natural world for shows like the BBC’s Springwatch and Blue Planet, David’s ‘Birdsong Hearing Test’ was filmed at the RSPB’s Franchises Wood in the New Forest for national hearing loss campaign Love Your Ears
Known as ‘The Urban Birder’ because of his interest in connecting people living in cities with the environment though birds, David is a regular presenter on Springwatch, The One Show and ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh.
He has been deaf in one ear after catching mumps as a child and now wears a hearing aid, but says he hasn’t always felt comfortable talking about his deafness: “When I was younger, growing up in London, if you couldn’t hear properly you were presumed to be stupid, so I didn’t tell people. I’ve been in denial about my hearing loss for most of my life and so haven’t spoken about it much, other than to people close to me.”
David LindoThe dawn chorus is an amazing thing and as a young guy I worried that one day I might not be able to hear it because when you hit the big 5-0, and maybe even before then, hearing loss can make birdsong harder to hear, especially when it comes to species with a particularly high-pitched or ‘squeaky’ call, like the Goldcrest, Grasshopper Warbler, Long-Tailed Tit or Willow Warbler.
Why birdsong can be hard to hear and how ‘ear binoculars’ can help
Today, aged 59, David wants more people to feel comfortable talking about hearing loss – a condition that affects 1 in 5 adults in the UK and 40% of people aged over 50. He argues that hearing aids should be seen as important as wearing glasses:
David LindoIn my professional world, so many people have a hearing loss and struggle to hear birds and wildlife. I call hearing aids ‘ear binoculars’ because your ears are as important as your eyes when you want to enjoy nature.
It’s the frequency of birdsong that makes it harder to hear when you have hearing loss, explained Hidden Hearing audiologist and birding enthusiast David Mathison:
“The average frequency of birdsong is around 3,500 to 4,000 Hz – approximately the same pitch as the highest note of a piano – but many species, like the UK’s smallest bird, the Goldcrest, produce sounds that reach 8,000 Hz and above. Most adults start off being able to hear sounds of up to 20,000 Hz. This almost halves to 11,500 Hz when you hit your 40s and drops even further to around 8,000 Hz in your 60s. People with hearing loss in the 3,000–8,000 Hz range will find a number of bird songs hard to hear.
“The latest hearing aid technology has a bandwidth of between 80 Hz to 10,000 Hz and can be programmed to focus on amplifying the frequencies that you are missing, so you don’t have to miss out on the sounds you enjoy as you get older.”
Listen to birds that can be hard to hear and book a free hearing test
Listen to four birds that can be hard to hear when you have hearing loss and try a free online hearing test at www.hiddenhearing.co.uk/love-your-ears
Love Your Ears is a hearing loss awareness campaign run by Hidden Hearing – the UK’s largest high-street hearing specialist with over 50 years’ experience dedicated to personalised hearing healthcare and a national network of over 320 test centres across the UK.
Book a free hearing test at the Halifax clinic at 24 Westgate, Halifax HX1 1DJ here.