Published Paper


Bird Surveys to New Heights: From Point Counts to Drones

1Sauvik Bose, 1Rina Bhattacharya, 1Pranabi Maji
1Department of Physics, JIS University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Page: 1106-1115
Published on: 2025 September

Abstract

To comprehend avian variety, population trends, and the general ecological health of habitats, bird scans are essential. From conventional field-based techniques to cutting-edge technological advancements, this paper offers an in-depth overview of all the methods used to watch and track birds. Because of their inexpensiveness, quick use, and potential to collect insightful data on the number and diversity of species across many kinds of habitats, including wetland ecosystems, forest, meadows, pastures, and farmland, both the point count and the transect method continue to be the preferred conventional techniques. Nevertheless, both techniques are constrained by elements including habitat degree of complexity of habitat, fluctuations of weather, and observer bias. As technology has advanced, ornithological research has been modified by drones and auditory sensors, which offer high-resolution airborne photographs, continuous surveillance, and access to settings that were previously inaccessible. By using these modern devices, human interference can be decreased and data gathering quality and reproducibility are enhanced. In order to ensure systematic and accurate documentation, the study additionally points out the significance of a variety of survey instruments, such as binoculars, spotting scopes and rangefinders as optical tools; microphones and automated recording gadgets as audio recorder; GPS and mobile as location tracker and also field notebooks. Depending on the goal of the study and the features of the study area, each technique and tool has pros and downsides of its own. The results highlight that the most accurate and thorough results for bird population monitoring are obtained by combining conventional and cutting-edge approaches. In addition to enhancing the precision of bird surveys, such integrated methods make an important boost to habitat governance, conservation strategy, and biodiversity analysis. Thus, a balanced and sustainable approach to future avian study and conservation management is the efficient application of both traditional and innovative techniques.

 

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