An RFID Based Smart Feeder for Hummingbirds

Ibarra, Vicente Galiano; Araya‐Salas, Marcelo; Tang, Yu-ping; Park, Charlie; Hyde, Anthony; Wright, Timothy F.; Tang, Wei

doi:10.3390/s151229886

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Another significant outcome of this study was the expansion of the previous description [11] by Brewer et al for subcutaneous placement of PIT tags in hummingbirds. As a conservative measure, in our study, initial placement of the PIT tags was achieved by using eyelash glue to secure the tag to the skin and feathers of the dorsal aspect of the bird as has been previously described [10]. Disadvantages to this method were the potential for excess glue to come in contact with the primary feathers thus rendering the hummingbird flightless [51] and the suspected short- term nature of tag adherence to the bird’s skin and feathers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The PIT did not exceed 3% of the bird’s body mass, which is consistent with the United States Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) policy. For initial 7 birds, the tags were secured on the skin and feathers of the dorsum using eyelash glue [10]. For the remaining birds, PITs were inserted subcutaneously using 16-gauge needles (N165 injector needle, Biomark,) and a syringe with a long stylet (MK 165 implanter, Biomark).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this method does not enable investigators to quantify hummingbird behaviors such as feeder visits or bird interactions at feeders. An alternative to banding is the use of passive integrated transponders (PIT) [8–10]. This automated detection of individuals at a feeder is advantageous because it results in minimal bird disturbance and provides accurate records of the arrival and departure times of each PIT tagged individual at a feeder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This automated detection of individuals at a feeder is advantageous because it results in minimal bird disturbance and provides accurate records of the arrival and departure times of each PIT tagged individual at a feeder. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology equipped transceivers have been used to describe the energetics [9], cognitive abilities [10] and presence/absence [11] of hummingbirds at feeders. Use of this technology eliminates the repetitive capture of individuals, and the feeder visitation behavior of birds is not altered due to trapping [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Use of RFID technology to characterize feeder visitations and contact network of hummingbirds in urban habitats

Bandivadekar¹,

Pandit²,

Sollmann³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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Despite the popular use of hummingbird feeders, there are limited studies evaluating the effects of congregation, sharing food resources and increased contact when hummingbirds visit feeders in urban landscapes. To evaluate behavioral interactions occurring at feeders, we tagged 230 individuals of two species, Anna’s and Allen’s Hummingbirds, with passive integrated transponder tags and recorded their visits with RFID transceivers at feeders. For detecting the presence of tagged birds, we developed an RFID equipped feeding station using a commercially available antenna and RFID transceiver. Data recorded included the number of feeder visits, time spent at the feeder, simultaneous feeder visitation by different individuals, and identifying which feeders were most commonly visited by tagged birds. For the study period (September 2016 to March 2018), 118,017 detections were recorded at seven feeding stations located at three California sites. The rate of tagged birds returning to RFID equipped feeders at least once was 61.3% (141/230 birds). Females stayed at feeders longer than males per visit. We identified primary, secondary and tertiary feeders at Sites 2 and 3, according to the frequency of visitation to them, with a mean percentage of 86.9% (SD±19.13) visits to a primary feeder for each tagged hummingbird. During spring and summer, hummingbirds visited feeders most often in morning and evening hours. Feeder visits by males overlapped in time with other males more frequently than other females. The analysis of the contact network at the feeders did not distinguish any significant differences between age or sex. Although most hummingbirds visited the feeders during the daytime, our system recorded night feeder visitations (n = 7 hummingbirds) at one site. This efficient use of RFID technology to characterize feeder visitations and contact networks of hummingbirds in urban habitats could be used in the future to elucidate behaviors, population dynamics and community structure of hummingbirds visiting feeders.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Use of RFID technology to characterize feeder visitations and contact network of hummingbirds in urban habitats

Bandivadekar¹,

Pandit²,

Sollmann³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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“…RFID is widely used as a marking method wherein tagged animals are captured and scanned manually in a manner similar to the "microchips" used in veterinary care of pets and livestock (Thorstad et al, 2013;Anu and Canessane, 2017). However, RFID can also be effectively employed in automated, remote sensing systems, with stationary readers that record specific animal activities, such as accessing a food source or nest (e.g., Zuckerberg et al, 2009;Bonter and Bridge, 2011;Catarinucci et al, 2014b;Ibarra et al, 2015;Zenzal and Moore, 2016). More advanced systems have implemented cognitive tests in lab and field settings with experimental routines customized for individual animals (Croston et al, 2016;Morand-Ferron et al, 2016) Although RFID systems are relatively inexpensive compared to other forms of biologging, cost can still be a barrier to the use of RFID in research, especially if large numbers of reading units are required.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Arduino-Based RFID Platform for Animal Research

et al. 2019

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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been broadly applied in the biological sciences to yield new insights into behavior, cognition, population biology, and distributions. RFID systems entail wireless communication between small tags that, when stimulated by an appropriate radio frequency transmission, emit a weak, short-range wireless signal that conveys a unique ID number. These tags, which often operate without a battery, can be attached to animals such that their presence at a particular location can be detected by an RFID reader. This paper describes an RFID data-logging system that can serve as the core for a wide variety of field and laboratory applications for monitoring the activities of individual animals. The core electronics are modeled on an Arduino circuit board, which is a hobbyist electronics system. Users can customize the hardware and software to accommodate their needs. We demonstrate the utility of the system with cursory descriptions of three real-world research applications. The first is a large-scale deployment that was used to examine individual breeding behaviors across four local populations of Wood Ducks. The second application employed an array of RFID-enabled bird feeders that allowed for tests of spatial cognition. Third, we describe a nest-box monitoring system that both records visits from breeding birds and administers experimental treatments, such as increasing temperature or playing audio recordings, in accordance to the presence/absence of individual birds. With these examples we do not attempt to relate details with regard to research findings; rather our intent is to demonstrate some of the possibilities enabled by our low-cost RFID system. Detailed descriptions, design files, and code are made available by means of the Open Science Framework.

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