call But those in favor of using these kinds of bird apps say that having a bunch of birders barge through a natural environment may disrupt a bird's life even more than a few electronic birdcalls. Even birders who just sit still can be disruptive, if they end up sitting near a nest. While proponents of the apps agree that they may cause stress to the birds, it's a very short-term stress as long as playback is only rarely used and used in places where birds aren't likely to ever encounter recorded songs again, such as deep in the woods. And if suggested guidelines are followed -- such as never target threatened or endangered species, use only short snippets of song and stop after a few minutes -- the little stress that is caused will be further reduced. The biggest benefit to this new technology, some say, is that it fosters a growing popularity in birding among younger people. If being able to use such bird apps in the outdoors attracts their attention and interest, we'll do much to encourage a new generation of bird advocates and conservationists . Do you think the use of bird apps in the outdoors is a positive change in birding? Or are noise regulations -- not only for large companies but for individuals -- now needed to ensure we don't harm the very creatures we strive to see? Comments I didn't even lnow that was such a thing as a bird APP. I am