Listening to Owlets for Better Conservation
Artificial intelligence is now playing a key role in protecting barn owls in southern England. Instead of disturbing nests to install cameras or ring chicks, researchers are using AI tech to count baby barn owls simply by listening to their calls.
This technology, created by a PhD student at Bournemouth University, analyses the hissing sounds made by barn owl chicks. These unique noises help scientists gather valuable data on owl populations without needing to physically approach the birds.
A Gentle Approach to Wildlife Monitoring
“Barn owls are quite hard to spot,” said Brian Cresswell, an engineer and ecologist working on the project. “We try not to disturb them, so we place recorders near nests, but never inside them. Thankfully, the chicks are loud enough.”
This method is less stressful for the owls. It also makes it possible to collect data from natural nest sites that are usually hard to access. Previously, most information came from artificial nest boxes, which do not fully represent wild populations.
Decoding Owl Calls Through AI
Kavisha Jayathunge, the AI researcher behind the project, explained how the system works. “I take the audio recording of the barn owl screech and process it to pull out all the frequencies. This creates a type of barcode. Each owlet has a slightly different sound pattern, which the AI tech can detect.”
Though the project is still in its early stages, it has already shown promising results. The AI model successfully identified three chicks from recordings taken at a nest in Cresswell’s garden.
Improving Barn Owl Breeding Research
This technology offers new insights into how owlets behave. Their hissing sounds may indicate hunger or feeding patterns, which helps researchers understand breeding success and survival rates.
Eventually, the goal is to allow volunteers and conservationists to use audio devices in the wild. This would make it easier to monitor barn owl populations without intruding on their nests.
with inputs from Reuters