Workshops > WS3

A picture is worth a thousand words: bio-logging as a tool for collecting video footage and still images of animal behaviour

Grémillet David ¹, Lescroël Amélie ¹, Rutz Christian ², Takahashi Akinori ³

1: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS UMR5175, France (David.GREMILLET@cefe.cnrs.fr, amelie.lescroel@cefe.cnrs.fr)

2: University of St Andrews, United Kingdom (cr68@st-andrews.ac.uk)

3: National Institute of Polar Research, Japan (atak@nipr.ac.jp)

Nobel Laureate Niko Tinbergen was not only a naturally gifted observer of wild animals, but also a pioneer wildlife photographer and movie maker. Although critically aware of the scientific value of imagery, even he could not have foreseen how technological advances would come to revolutionise the study of animal behaviour in the 21st century. Nowadays, researchers are routinely equipping animals with miniature cameras, to collect detailed behavioural data in captivity and in the wild. Despite considerable progress in this area, however, major challenges remain: (1) image acquisition continues to be severely constrained by size-, battery- and memory limitations; and (2) image analysis requires innovative approaches, to extract relevant bio-logical information from vast imagery datasets. Interestingly, the increasing use of drones to collect image data on wild animals and their habitats highlights the blurring of boundaries between animal-attached (i.e, bio-logging sensu stricto) and robot-attached applications. This workshop showcases recent advances in the use of bio-logging devices for collecting image data, and aims at identifying future directions for image acquisition and analysis.

09:00 - 09:20     A new video camera activated by feeding motion for efficient recording of deep foraging behavior. Yasuhiko Naito (National Institute of Polar Research, Japan)

09:20 - 09:40     Using animal-borne cameras to study raptor hunting behavior. Suzanne Amador Kane (Physics Dept. Haverford College, USA)

09:40 - 10:00     Application of computer vision technique for understanding animal behavior and cognition. Junichi Okuyama (Kyoto University, Japan)

10:00 - 10:20     Using video cameras to understand seabird-fisheries interactions and enhance participatory management. Amélie Lescroël (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS UMR5175, France)

10:20 - 10:40     The past, present and future of animal-borne imaging. Christian Rutz (University of St Andrews, United Kingdom)

10:40 - 12:00     General discussion.