A graduate student at the University of Alberta has developed an automated system for detecting owl calls, eliminating the need for researchers to spend nights in the field.
A graduate student at the University of Alberta has developed an automated system for detecting owl calls, eliminating the need for researchers to spend nights in the field.
Julia Shonfield’s new method, which combines audio recorders with software that can detect and count owl calls, is as accurate as traditional methods—and far more efficient, according to her analysis.
“One of the most common ways that we collect data on owls is through acoustic surveys,” explained Shonfield, who is supervised by U of A biologist Erin Bayne. “Studying owls is important because they are components of their ecosystems, and are susceptible to changes in the environment due to their position at the end of the food chain.”
Shonfield came up with the idea while searching ways to improve the efficiency of her own work studying the effects of industrial noise on owls in northeastern Alberta.
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Image via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
