In Europe, Big Brother is watching birds

Or rather listening.  

At the University of Bonn in Germany, computer scientists have developed a remote voice-recognition system to track bird populations. Surprisingly accurate, the technology has located a rare bird in inland Germany, Savi’s Warbler, a bird which is seen almost exclusively on the shores of the Baltic Sea nowadays.  

According to the experts at the University, this field of technology, called ‘Bioacoustics’ is a growing field that will make mapping and monitoring bird populations much easier and more streamlined. The voice-recognition microphone devices are placed at selected points in the wild, running on solar energy for months at a time, and upon retrieval, can be analyzed by the computer programs developed at the University to chart how many of a species were at a location at any given time. The potential to revolutionize the process of wildlife monitoring, and the whole field of nature conservation, is impressive.    

Original Article here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080728081631.htm

Posted by Dennis on 07/30 at 04:39 PM