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The use of thermal imaging devices to monitor birds began in the 1960s. It underwent significant development from the end of the 20th century onwards. This was, at least in part, due to improvements in the quality and portability of thermal-imaging devices, and reductions in their cost.
Although primarily a nocturnal activity, thermal imaging can also be used in daylight, for example monitoring Eurasian bittern (''Botaurus stellaris'') and water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') in dense vegetation.
One
West Midlands Ringing Group
* {{YouTube, id=qFrw4U05BOE , title= "Stunning skylark breakthrough!" - BBC Midlands Today news report, presented by
The use of thermal imaging devices to monitor birds began in the 1960s. It underwent significant development from the end of the 20th century onwards. This was, at least in part, due to improvements in the quality and portability of thermal-imaging devices, and reductions in their cost.
Although primarily a nocturnal activity, thermal imaging can also be used in daylight, for example monitoring Eurasian bittern (''Botaurus stellaris'') and water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') in dense vegetation.
One bird ringing
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...
organisation, the West Midlands Ringing Group
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
(formerly Brewood Ringers), caught and rung 424 adult skylarks (''Alauda arvensis'') in 2019, using thermal imaging to locate them; this was 81.4% of the total caught Britain & Ireland that year. The group subsequently received the 2021 Marsh Award for Innovative Ornithology for their innovative use of thermal imaging technology in monitoring farmland birds. The group uses Pulsar Helion thermal imaging cameras and have determined that this not only helps them to find more birds, but reduces the disturbance caused to the birds, due to needing to spend less time in the field.
Other taxa
Thermal imaging has also been used to monitor mammal species including bats,mice
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
, and ungulates, and even the health of trees.
References
External links
West Midlands Ringing Group
* {{YouTube, id=qFrw4U05BOE , title= "Stunning skylark breakthrough!" - BBC Midlands Today news report, presented by
David Gregory-Kumar
David Gregory-Kumar (born David Gregory) is a news correspondent for BBC Midlands Today, covering the English midlands. He is the science and environmental correspondent.
After graduating from university, Gregory worked on his PhD in physics i ...
, showing bird ringing using thermal imaging in progress
Ornithology
Photographic techniques