Greetings all, I'm heading to Ouyen this Monday for two nights. My target
species are Purple-gaped Honeyeater and the Mallee Fowl. Can anyone advise me
on likely spots in the area? You can contact me privately at
.com regards, Gary Oliverwww.birdshootaustralia.blogspot.com.au
> From:
> Subject: birding-aus Digest, Vol 84, Issue 2
> To:
> Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2013 12:00:01 +1100
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> 1. Re: Bird Study and Technology (Damien Farine)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2013 10:39:18 +1100
> From: Damien Farine <>
> To: <>
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Bird Study and Technology
> Message-ID: <>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> Hi all,
> Just a few quick thoughts on this interesting thread.
> LIDAR provides incredible detail about environmental features. However these
> features primarily remain inputs into the study of birds, their ecology or
> behaviour. In order to understand selection, behaviour, decision-making, or
> most other endeavours in conservation or ecology then there needs to be
> repeated observations of individuals or populations of birds.
> PIT / RFID tags are emerging to be a very rich source of long-term
> monitoring. Here at Wytham Woods in Oxford we have a population of over 2800
> individuals comprising 5 species that carry pit tags. However such a system
> relies on the birds visiting specific spots where we have readers (in our
> case feeders or nest boxes) and we have no information on what they do in
> between. This amounts to a richer set of mark-capture-recapture (by
> increasing the recaptures several thousand-fold) that allows us to infer a
> vast amount about the decision-making, behaviour and social strategies of
> birds and the selection pressures that operate on them.
> There are some more active technologies, such as GPS tags that can
> communicate together and to base stations to automatically download data.
> One group in Oxford is combining depth readers, salt-water detectors, GPS
> units and other hardware in order to get be able to infer the behaviour of
> foraging seabirds.
> Some other groups are also putting video cameras that follow the gaze of
> birds and getting amazing results with raptors both soaring and hunting.
> Overall there is a great willingness to embrace these technologies by
> ornithologist. We just need the governments to stop cutting funding to
> science in order to allow us to gather these incredibly rich datasets.
> Damien
>
> > From:
> > Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:00:50 +1100
> > To:
> > CC:
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Bird Study and Technology
> >
> > Russ et al,
> >
> > LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology is showing great potential
> > as a technology for hands off research on birds (plus many other fields).
> > It is still fairly early days, but the number of applications is growing
> > incredibly rapidly. The hand held bird ID device is looking more and more
> > possible.
> >
> > Here are a few links to sites about the application of LIDAR in research
> > involving birds.
> >
> > http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20733624
> >
> > http://www.atomic.physics.lu.se/research/applied_molecular_spectroscopy_and_remote_sensing/research_overview/fluorescence_lidar/
> >
> > http://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/research/story/lasers-forests-birds-and-collaboration-using-LiDAR-predict-forest-structure-and
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Carl Clifford
> >
> > On 25/02/2013, at 22:45, Russ <> wrote:
> >
> > > I entered the library profession when technologies like RFID were already
> > > established, so I'm not as awe-struck by things like self-check kiosks and
> > > smart return chutes as many career librarians. What I do know is that this
> > > technology has had a huge impact on how RFID-equipped libraries handle
> > > most
> > > day-to-day business.
> > >
> > > It's likely that RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) can have a similar
> > > impact on bird research. It's already happening in some types of study.
> > >
> > > Is your cat or dog microchipped? Than it has an RFID tag. The tag can be
> > > read by a reader passed over the animal. Do you have a tollway transponder
> > > in your vehicle? That uses the same technology - except that your dog has
> > > a
> > > passive tag, and your car has an active (powered) one. Passive tags need
> > > to
> > > be near the reader, while active tags can be some distance away, and even
> > > not in line of sight. Currently, active tags are usually a bit big to fit
> > > on birds, although geese and albatross can carry them.
> > >
> > > Once we have the technology to power a tiny RFID tag so it can be read
> > > from
> > > a greater distance, this seems to be the logical technology to replace
> > > banding. Currently, you need to be holding your local Red-necked Stint to
> > > read all the data from the leg band. With improved RFID technology,
> > > researchers will scan a flock of nearby waders and get a readout of tagged
> > > birds - along with all their previous data. Of course, some data can't be
> > > recorded without the bird in the hand (weight, measurements) but as laser
> > > measurement becomes more sophisticated, don't be surprised if a hand-held
> > > scanner can estimate weight and other data for a bird it measures from a
> > > distance.
> > >
> > > We'll also have to find more humane ways of catching birds and attaching
> > > tiny RFID tags. 50 years ago it was acceptable to shoot a few birds or
> > > steal their eggs to study them closer. 20 years ago it was unthinkable to
> > > study species like waders without netting and banding (two separate
> > > issues,
> > > by the way!). Within the next decade or so, I predict that some of the
> > > current practices will be deemed abhorrent and inhumane (some already are
> > > by many people) so researchers will have to be smarter, use smarter
> > > technology, and find new ways of collecting the data needed to fill the
> > > multiple gaps in our knowledge of birds, their movements, their habitats,
> > > their diets, their relationships with other species, including us.
> > >
> > > Russell Woodford
> > > ===============================
> > >
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