[Tweeters] Hearing aids for birding

[Robert O'Brien via Tweeters]

This thread came up a few months ago and  I posted a long experience I've
had.  I'll skip that now.
I have Costco Hearing aids, the ones recommended by the technician there.
Economical at $ 1500 for both and a great improvement over none.
I hear lots of birds.now.
BUT, since then, I've discovered the simple, ultimate test.  Go out in the
field with Merlin on a birdy morning in spring (or any other time) and see
how your hearing compares with Merlin.  What I find is that I cannot hear
Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, and  others with high  pitched
sounds.  But Merlin  does.  I only hear about 1/2 the birds Merlin
reports.  The other half are either too far away or too high pitched.  But
I'm still a happy guy because thanks to Merlin, I know they are still
around.
Someone suggested playing such bird songs/calls to an audiologist and see
what they can do.  Seems a great idea, and pit yourself against Merlin
while you're doing it.
Bob OBrien  Portland

On Sat, Aug 9, 2025 at 2:26 PM Me via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
wrote:


> Hi Jim,

>

> I am using an Oticon Intent 2. I am working with my audiologist to fine

> tune the program she added for birding which makes the sounds sharper. I

> can hear more birds but still losing out on higher pitch calls such as

> evening grosbeak and cedar waxwing. Not perfect but much better than before.

>

> Mike in Kent

> Cotinga777 at yahoo.com

> —————————————-

> Jim wrote:

> >

> > Hi,

> >

> > ? I'm interested in knowing what others experience is with hearing aids

> > and the use of them for birding.? Please include brand names for the aids

> > you have used/are using.? Also please share how well/not so well they

> > are for the purposes of birding.? Thanks!

> > ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? - Jim in Skagit

>

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