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There is some validity to your assertions. Tracking animals with gadgets has been going on for decades. Birds that migrate were and are banded on one or both legs. These are more than likely smaller species like marsh birds or others on endangered watch lists. Scientists need to collect data related to their movements in order to ensure breeding areas are not destroyed or compromised to the detriment of the species. Infringements from commercial interests has become a real threat. How they recover a smaller bird to retrieve this data (id# on leg) is problematic in practice. I’ve seen huge badminton shaped nets erected to catch marsh sparrows, et al., and bands applied or data recovered from those with bands. As a “non-scientist“ this strikes me as a traumatizing event for the bird. But is a lot of this redundant and unnecessary? Point being, competing PhD students at different universities doing the same surveys to earn their degrees? Some institutions and universities are not keen on sharing data….. that is until they publish a ”white-paper” and get credit for the work.
None of that social media garbage here either. It's bad enough we're on camera anyplace we go, and tracked by our phones.I try to minimize my own exposure to such tech and that includes no FB, Twitter/X, etc. etc. And, you’ll have to arrest me before you get an ankle band on me… good luck tracking me down for that (without looking at the EXIF in my fotos… haha)
Probably really pissed-off! The other eagles likely make fun of him. Sorta like Iron Man with the glass gizmo except this one is on the back..”Iron Bird”
A pretty boy poster child
Mal Paso’s pretty boy condor tells a story actually. The “15” placard, although annoying to the bird, requires someone with binoculars in the area doing field work and recording data. The solar panel, or whatever the heck that thing is on the eagle, lets the researcher sit in a lab somewhere (maybe 1000’s miles away) and watch a computer screen….. yeah, that takes work
….. Both of these species must have required special permits to conduct these surveys (don’t ya’ love surveys?).
Very well said. Thank you!
I have to agree. I think we should be able to do our research or take our pictures without touching the birds. To your observation concerning how things I might wear could be a hinderance, I removed my wedding ring because I was an aircrewman on the Navy S2. A buddy of mine fell off the plane during preflight and his ring caught on a rivet. His finger was stripped of all but the bone. It happens. I could imagine a band or device could catch on a bird.
