An Inexpensive and Mobile See-Through Tunnel for Collecting Bird Flight Performance Data in the Field

Abstract

Flight performance data for flying animals are valuable for estimating energetic budgets and may be necessary for testing hypotheses of optimal foraging, predator-prey response, and physiological demand. However, measuring the flight performance of birds, particularly in the field, may be expensive and time consuming. Additionally, depending on the level of biological scale or the particular research question, apparatuses such as laboratory-bound wind tunnels may be inappropriate. We offer a see-through tent as an inexpensive alternative for certain situations where the goal is simply to constrain the flight path of a bird for videography. Data on acceleration and morphology were sampled from birds in an old-field habitat in central Pennsylvania, USA and demonstrate the utility of the apparatus.