Bay Harbour: February 28, 2024

Bay Harbour News Wednesday February 28 2024
8
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Smart devices
helping keep
a close eye on
bird numbers
• By Dylan Smits
ARTIFICIAL intelligence is
being used to learn about native
birds in Redcliffs’ Barnett Park.
A mobile bird monitor has
been recording sounds in the
park for the past two years. It
then uploads the data to an AI.
Cacophony Project
manager Matthew
Hellicar said a major
accomplishment
of the monitor was
discovering the
presence of little
owls in the valley.
The species was
introduced to the
South Island from
Germany between
1906 and 1910.
Little owl readings
have been small
in number but
consistent so far,
said Hellicar.
“Without the
technology, what
you get is anecdotal evidence.
People might hear something at
night time,” he said.
“As soon as we know what
we’re trying to protect, we know
where to focus our efforts to
support breeding habitats.”
Invented in 2016, the so-called
‘cacophonator’ analyses bird
songs which then identifies
the species and detects sound
volume.
“It gives you a measure of the
population. It’s impossible to
tell specifically how many of
each bird you’re hearing, but it’s
a sample of the population that
tells you whether the population
PARK RESIDENT: The
little owl’s presence
in Barnett Park
was confirmed by
Cacophony’s bird
monitor.
is doing well or not.”
The monitor will have to run
for several more years before
more accurate estimates of
population changes are made,
but the technology already gives
volunteers an idea of what birds
are in the park, said Hellicar.
There are about eight species
confirmed in
the park from
native silvereyes
to bellbirds and
swallows.
Silvereyes are
the individual
species with the
highest amount of
sounds recorded
with more than
200 confirmed
readings since
the monitor was
installed.
Cacophony
also wants to help
attract more native
species like tūī.
The current AI distinguishes
between 15 bird species,
providing a method of
monitoring species diversity in
the park.
The Cacophony Project
provides data to the park’s
regreening group and Predator
Free Redcliffs as part of a united
effort to protect native birds.
Hellicar joined Cacophony
and other groups like the
Summit Road Society in 2016
after moving from the United
Kingdom.
“My first realisation when I
got involved with our trapping
and monitoring processes in
DEDICATED: Cacophony Project manager Matthew Hellicar is deeply involved in
conservation efforts across Canterbury, playing a role in the Banks Peninsula Conservation
Trust and the Summit Road Society.
UNITED: Volunteers from the Cacophony Project with members of the Barnett Park
regreening group and Predator Free Redcliffs. The organisations work together with the
overall goal of increasing the native bird population in Barnett Park.
New Zealand was that our data is
really poor.”
“We’re building the cacophony
index of how loud the birdsong
is.”
There are six volunteers in
the park regreening group who
regularly monitor the artificial
intelligence’s analysis, said
Hellicar.
The volunteers listen to the
monitor recordings and confirm
whether the artificial intelligence
is correct in identifying the
species.
“That’s how the AI is learning,
so it’s really critical.”
SMART DEVICES: The ‘cacophonator’ is an AI-equipped
bird audio monitor. It distinguishes between bird species
and supplies a population estimate based on the volume
of bird song. Right, cacophony’s powerful thermal camera
uses AI to make visual detections and classifications of
predators and native birds.
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