A pressure-sensitive wireless device for continuously monitoring avian nest attendance

摘要

Studies of avian incubation patterns may be affected by a researcher's need to visit and disrupt incubating birds. To overcome this problem, we developed a Remote Incubation Monitoring System (RIMS) by modifying an existing home-security system. Camouflaged, pressure-sensitive switches placed in nests of the common eider (Somateria mollissima) transmitted data wirelessly to receivers so that nests did not have to be revisited to retrieve data. Data from receivers were then sent through a cable to a control panel located outside the nesting colony (approximately 2,000 nesting females) to be downloaded. RIMS devices in active nests instantaneously detected the movement of 38 females on or off nests in 1999. We compared data generated from RIMS devices (time of day, number and length of recess) to data from behavioral observations of a sample of females and found the results highly correlated (r=0.99, n=29, P<0.001). The system was not affected by severe weather and provided instantaneous and continuous monitoring of nest-attendance patterns without disturbing incubating females. Behavioral research requiring multiple nest visits by observers could benefit from using RIMS devices for monitoring incubation, particularly among colonial species sensitive to disturbance.