Bird Foot Imaging for Reliable Non-Invasive Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for identifying individual birds, such as bird ringing and radio transmitters, are invasive and prone to failure, causing stress and potential injury to birds, while field-readable rings can fade or detach, making identification unreliable.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a bird station with an imaging device that captures images of a bird's foot, processed by a data processing apparatus to generate feature descriptors and match them with reference data for identification, allowing non-invasive and automated bird recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bird ringing or radio transmitters are used for identification, then individual birds can be identified, but the birds experience stress and potential injury due to capture and handling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical capture and handling systems with an optical imaging system. Instead of physically capturing birds to attach identification devices, the system uses cameras to capture images of natural foot patterns, thereby eliminating stress and injury while maintaining identification capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates optical copies (images) of the bird's foot patterns instead of physical tags. These digital images serve as identification records without requiring physical attachment to the bird, thus avoiding capture and handling while preserving individual identification
2Object-affected harmful factors
If field-readable rings are used for identification, then birds can be identified without recapture, but the rings may fade or detach making identification unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses optical copies of foot patterns instead of physical rings. These digital images are stored and can be referenced repeatedly without degradation, eliminating fading and detachment issues while providing reliable identification without recapture
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of attaching an identification device to the bird that might fail, the patent inverts the approach by reading identification features that are naturally present on the bird's foot. This eliminates the risk of device failure while maintaining non-invasive identification
3Reliability
If conventional bird ringing methods are used, then individual identification is achieved, but the process requires capture and handling by trained ringers
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables birds to be identified without human intervention in the capture and tagging process. The automated imaging system captures foot patterns as birds naturally visit feeding stations, eliminating the need for trained ringers to capture and handle birds
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of capture, handling, and tag attachment with an automated optical imaging system. This substitution eliminates the need for trained personnel while maintaining reliable identification capability
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method of attempting to identify an individual bird based on image data of the bird, comprising: receiving image data relating to an image which shows at least part of a foot of a bird at a bird station; processing the image data to determine whether the bird can be identified from the image using reference data which comprises, for each bird of a plurality of birds, a respective feature descriptor derived from an image of a foot of the bird, and respective bird identifier which identifies the bird; in case it is determined that the bird can be identified as being one of the birds, identifying the bird using the identifier which identifies the one of the birds; and in case it is determined that the bird cannot be identified as being one of the birds, generating an indicator indicating that the bird cannot be identified.