Low-cost automated call box system to conduct playback experiments for wildlife research and management

Acoustic cues (e.g., vocalizations or ‘calls’ in wildlife) may effectively change social behavioral patterns in certain species. There are very few published papers on how to create a device at a low cost that can automatically reproduce acoustic cues to carry on wildlife playback experiments or management. We developed the Automated Call Box (ACB) based on an open-source Arduino-compatible microcontroller that attaches to a speaker system and costs less than the most common game caller used by researchers. The unit helps test the influence of social information on habitat choices and has other management applications. We field-tested the ACB to assess the effect of conspecific vocalizations cues on the habitat settlement and to increase the detectability of songbird species. We describe in detail the costs of the materials to build this type of system as a reference for further research. Our ACB allows researchers to conduct experiments on wildlife in inclement weather and complex environments, even in remote locations, with minimum or no necessity for the researcher to be present to reset the equipment.