DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cc2fqz6c9
title: Wing images used for testing new methods for estimating the total wing area of birds

description: Images of extended wing preparations of 112 specimens representing 40
 avian families were used for testing new methods for estimating the total
 wing area of birds.
description: Spread wings photographed at the ROM were placed
 on white paper on a copy stand with a Nikon Z50 mirrorless camera mounted
 directly above the wing. An L-shaped ruler was placed next to the wing to
 provide the scale. Two Godox LEDP260C Bi-Color LED light panels on tripods
 were set at 100% brightness and 5000K color temperature and placed on
 either side of the camera to minimize shadows. Large wings were
 photographed in the ROM’s photo studio. Wings at LSU were photographed
 using a hand-held camera and a digital or manual leveler to ensure the
 camera was directly above the wing. To reduce measurer error, photographs
 were taken and digitally measured only by H.F. and
 M.S. <br>Processed images were obtained using ImageJ v.1.53 (U.S.
 National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland). We set the scale using
 the scale ruler in the image and used the “Threshold” tool to transform
 the photo into a binary (black and white) image, sometimes followed by the
 “Fill Holes” option. Most images were further edited manually using the
 “Brush” tool to fill small border gaps in broken or disarranged feather
 vanes, or to fill marginal white spots not distinguished from the
 background by the thresholding tool. Finally, the “Eraser” tool was used
 to delete anomalies due to disarranged cover feathers, usually near the
 shoulder area, and to create a straight proximal border that would
 represent the root chord (parallel to the axis of the body and
 perpendicular to the wing leading edge).
description: Standard image visualization software that can open JPG
 files.
description: ## Images of spread wing specimens used for the evaluation of new methods
 for estimating the total wing area of birds ## Authors **Hellen (Yi) Fu**
 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto,
 Toronto, Ontario, Canada **Michelle
 Su** Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of
 Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
 **Santiago Claramunt** Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
 University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Natural
 History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Orcid:
 0000-0002-8926-5974 
 ## Citation Fu, H., M. Su & S.
 Claramunt (2023) Wing images used for testing new methods for estimating
 the total wing area of birds. Dryad Dataset
 ## Funding * Natural
 Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Award:
 RGPIN-2018-06747, Discovery Grant * Royal Ontario Museum, Canada ##
 Abstract Images of extended wing preparations of 112 specimens
 representing 40 avian families were used for testing new methods for
 estimating the total wing area of birds. ## Materials and Methods Spread
 wings photographed at the ROM were placed on white paper on a copy stand
 with a Nikon Z50 mirrorless camera mounted directly above the wing. An
 L-shaped ruler was placed next to the wing to provide the scale. Two Godox
 LEDP260C Bi-Color LED light panels on tripods were set at 100% brightness
 and 5000K color temperature and placed on either side of the camera to
 minimize shadows. Large wings were photographed in the ROMs photo studio.
 Wings at LSU were photographed using a hand-held camera and a digital or
 manual leveler to ensure the camera was directly above the wing. To reduce
 measurer error, photographs were taken and digitally measured only by H.F.
 and M.S. Processed images were obtained using ImageJ v.1.53 (U.S. National
 Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland). We set the scale using the
 scale ruler in the image and used the Threshold tool to transform the
 photo into a binary (black and white) image, sometimes followed by the
 Fill Holes option. Most images were further edited manually using the
 Brush tool to fill small border gaps in broken or disarranged feather
 vanes, or to fill marginal white spots not distinguished from the
 background by the thresholding tool. Finally, the Eraser tool was used to
 delete anomalies due to disarranged cover feathers, usually near the
 shoulder area, and to create a straight proximal border that would
 represent the root chord (parallel to the axis of the body and
 perpendicular to the wing leading edge). ## References Fu, H., M. Su, J.
 J. Chu, A. Margaritescu & S. Claramunt. In press. New methods for
 estimating the total wing area of birds. Ecology and Evolution
 [link](https://doi.org/10.22541/au.168594905.58545896/v1) ## Data and file
 structure The main folder contains the original digital photographs and
 the subfolder contains the images processed for obtaining estimates of
 wing area using the ImageJ software; repeated estimates for some wings are
 included in a subfolder of the later calles :subfolder "Re-measured
 Binary." Image are in Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) or
 Digital Negative (DNG) formats. Image file name convention is as follows:
 [scientific name] [collection acronym]_[specimen number] [additional
 information such as shot type (ventral or dorsal), number (e.g. 1 of 2),
 or whether it is the binarized image ("bin")].[filename
 extension: jpg or DNG].