Biologists and ornithologists collect data on bird body weights to track avian health and metabolic rate. Geographic and seasonal variations of body weight in migratory and non-migratory birds are of special interest. Other sources of weight variations in a species may be related to habitat, food availability, sex, age, breeding status, etc. Weight measurements are typically made on captured or captive birds.
We have developed a test structure to non-invasively measure weights of songbirds arriving on a bird feeder equipped with a remotely read out, high-resolution digital scale.
