Tracking birds’ social lives

Behavioral tracking 2018

Using lightweight barcodes and computer vision to map individual movements and social networks.

This system uses barcode-equipped backpacks to enable automated, individual-level tracking of birds for behavioral research.

A male zebra finch wearing a small barcode backpack, photographed about four months after fitting. Enlarge figure

An identity the camera can read

A male zebra finch wears its barcode backpack about four months after fitting. Camera images identify and locate the tags, allowing individuals to be tracked together in a group.

Figure 5 · Alarcón-Nieto et al., Methods in Ecology and Evolution (2018). Cropped from the published figure. © 2018 The Authors.

My contribution

As part of a collaborative project, I helped design and implement the computer vision pipeline used to detect and track barcoded zebra finches. The system provides continuous identity, position, and orientation data, supporting long-term studies of behavior and social networks at high resolution.

Citation

Alarcón-Nieto, G., Graving, J. M., Klarevas-Irby, J. A., Maldonado-Chaparro, A. A., Mueller, I., & Farine, D. R. (2018). An automated barcode tracking system for behavioural studies in birds. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 9(6), 1536–1547. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.13005