Friday, July 11, 2025

Drone-mounted detection system makes bird counting fast

A Mexican startup is using drones to aid conservation of the pink flamingo on the Yucatán peninsula.

Ornitronik, a company founded by National Autonomous University biology graduate Esaú Villareal, has developed an automatic observation and detection system that uses drones to count flamingos and monitor their behavior.

Called FlaminGO!, the system can capture a single image of as many as 1,000 flamingos in 30 seconds. The automatic census of the flamingo population saves time and drones can count birds in areas that are difficult to reach.

Data and images that the system collects are passed on to public and private organizations that can use the information to develop better conservation plans for the pink flamingo, which is classified as an endangered species.

DJI, the company that makes the drones used in the Ornitronik system, said in a statement that FlaminGO! helps to understand the behavior of flamingos, adding that the size of their population is indicative of the health of the ecosystem in which they live.

The system can identify information such as where Yucatán peninsula flamingos rest and nest, the company said.

Villareal said that care is taken to ensure that the use of drones in flamingo habitats doesn’t disturb the species.

“It’s important to consider that the use of drones for the monitoring of wild fauna has to be carried out with knowledge and ethics so as to not to disturb any species. There are some groups [of flamingos] that are more susceptible to stress and their well-being must come first,” he said.

Villareal said that he plans to use the FlaminGO! system to conduct accurate censuses of other animal species in Mexico.

According to DJI, the drone system, which makes use of thermal vision technology and zoom, is between 90% and 95% accurate.

Source: El Financiero (sp) 

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
A small plane flies over the ocean

How the Mexican security minister’s slip of the tongue rankled Salvadoran President Bukele

2
President Bukele took exception after García Harfuch's identified a drug-smuggling plane as coming from El Salvador.
gold bars

Highway robbery near Guadalajara nets 6 million pesos worth of gold and silver

0
Such open-road heists have risen in frequency recently and could pose a threat to potential investors otherwise attracted by nearshoring opportunities.
Security chief Omar García Harfuch, Attorney General Gertz and other Mexian officials sit on a stage in front of a banner reading "National Strategy against Extortion" in spanish

Authorities launch national strategy against extortion to tackle a pernicious and widespread crime

1
The strategy contemplates new laws that would force states to investigate the crime, even when victims are too afraid to make an official report.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity