Tiny bird backpacks being used to track hummingbird movement [Video]

by Elizabeth Hunter

Tiny solar-powered “bird backpacks” are being used to track hummingbirds in a unique new trial.

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Washington in the United States, teamed up with the Chingaza National Park in Colombia to start the unique project.

To monitor the hummingbirds‘ movements, tiny trackers were attached to the birds’ backs using a harness around their wings and chests like a tiny “bird backpack.”

The tag monitors the hummingbirds’ movements and locations through a signal-transmitting solar panel and has given researchers a unique insight into the birds’ patterns.

Cristina Rueda Uribe, a PhD candidate from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “We are very excited to have successfully implemented a system that is giving us a unique insight into the movements of hummingbirds and other small animals endemic to high mountain ecosystems of the Andes.

“The transmitters we …