Bird Analysis Cameras

2007/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Diseinua
• Irudiak/Soinuak
• Teknologia
• Zoologia
• Ekologia

Thanks to the latest advances in microelectronics, the University of Oxford has managed to develop small cameras that can be installed in animals to analyze the activity and behavior of wild birds.

The first trial was conducted with a series of beles (corvus moneduloides) from New Caledonia. Eighteen sailboats have put a camera and have managed to record 451 minutes. These birds become very nervous before humans, so it is impossible to analyze their natural behavior. In addition, they live in mountainous and closed areas, where visibility is very limited and where it is almost impossible to follow individuals.

Cameras only weigh 14.5 grams and do not bother birds too much. The cameras record the head between the legs of the animal (in the image appears in red the camera and in blue the area that records the camera).