25 / 08 / 2017
Photo: VLIZ (De Wulf)
The Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend recently put into operation a brandnew block of birdcages. Funding derived from the Flanders Marine Institute and Ghent University, combined with own means from the rescue centre. VLIZ supported in the construction and added two webcams. An overview camera allows to observe the overall cage as well as flying birds. Another moveable camera, placed more nearby the ground serves to study a specific bird/gull more closely.
Currently gulls equipped with a GPS-transmitter and a motion sensor are topic of research in the birdcage. The aim is to correlate the registered movements with the behaviour (resting, feeding, hunting, etc.) as observed by the cameras. Once a model has been created the information can be used to find out the behaviour of the tracked gulls in the field.
This infrastructure is available for all marine scientists who want to study (sea)birds in a controlled environment. The birdcage is situated at the site of the Wildlife Rescue Centre Ostend (Nieuwpoortsesteenweg 642, 8400 Ostend).
Have a look at the VLIZ media gallery for some images of the birdcage.