Automated Monitoring of Ground-Nesting Birds Using Infrared Drone cameras and AI-Driven Analysis via Mobile Networks
Margaret aims to enhance conservation efforts for ground-nesting birds in farmland habitats, which are vital components of agricultural ecosystems. Recent legislative initiatives, including Biodiversity Net Gain and the Global Biodiversity Framework, underscore the importance of understanding the biodiversity supported by agricultural landscapes. Effective monitoring of ground-nesting bird plots is essential to assess the success of management strategies, such as the establishment of dedicated nesting areas. However, traditional monitoring techniques often face challenges due to the elusive nature and camouflage of these species.
To address this, we propose employing a commercially available drone equipped with an infrared camera to non-invasively survey ground-nesting bird plots over time. The data and images collected will be transmitted via mobile networks to a cloud-based system for analysis, with results displayed on a user-friendly dashboard. This approach will empower farmers and land managers to make informed decisions regarding conservation practices for ground-nesting birds.
The project is named “MARGARET” in honor of Margaret Morse Nice, whose pioneering approach to ornithology inspire our technological approach to monitoring and conserving these species.
Further Reading:
Das, N., Padhy, N., Dey, N., Mukherjee, A. and Maiti, A., 2022. Building of an edge enabled drone network ecosystem for bird species identification. Ecological Informatics, 68, p.101540.
Santangeli, A., Chen, Y., Kluen, E., Chirumamilla, R., Tiainen, J. and Loehr, J., 2020. Integrating drone-borne thermal imaging with artificial intelligence to locate bird nests on agricultural land. Scientific reports, 10(1), p.10993.