DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncc
title: HawkEar: A bird-borne visual and acoustic platform for eavesdropping the behavior of mobile animals

description: UAVs (drones) offer mobile platforms for ecological investigation, but can
 be impractical in some environments and the resulting noise can disturb
 wildlife. We developed a mobile alternative using a bird-borne platform to
 record the behavior of other animals in the field. This unit consists of a
 lightweight audio and video sensor that is carried by a trained Harris’s
 hawk Parabuteo unicinctus. We tested the hypothesis that our
 bird-borne platform is a viable option for collecting behavioral data from
 mobile animals. We recorded acoustic and video data as the hawk flew
 through a dense group of Brazilian free-tailed bats Tadarida
 brasiliensis emerging from a cave, with a test case of investigating how
 echolocation calls changes depending on spatial position in the bat group.
 The HawkEar platform is an alternative for collecting behavioral data when
 a mobile platform that is less noisy and restrictive than traditional UAVs
 is needed. The design and software are open source and can be modified to
 accommodate additional sensor needs.
description: # HawkEar: a bird-borne visual and acoustic platform for eavesdropping the
 behavior of mobile animals
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncc](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncc) This dataset contains the designs, code, and sample data from a bird-borne tag to record audio and video from mobile animals. ## Description of the data and file structure This dataset contains the following:   1.     Board Design.zip: A folder that contains the files for the electronic board design for the back and head portion of the tag. These files are needed to replicate the circuit boards for the system. These files are provided in both .brd (CAD file created using EAGLE) and .sch file formats. 2.     Cases.zip: A folder that contains the design files for the 3D printed case components. These files are needed to replicate the protective case for the system and provided in .stl format. The name of each file indicates the role of the case (i.e., "BackCase.stl" "BackCaseLid.stl") 3.     Code.zip: A folder that contains the code files necessary for the PIC32 board and to program and run the HawkEar. 4.     HawkEar_Details.pdf (and HawkEar_Details.txt): A detailed document on the assembly, programming, and operation of the HawkEar. 5.     AcousticData.zip: a folder containing example audio files (.wav format) recorded from the HawkEar and presented in the manuscript, along with a .csv file that contains the time stamps and condition information within each audio file. These acoustic files were recorded from echolocating Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in the wild during evening emergence from their roost. The files were obtained when the bird carrying the HawkEar traversed the column of flying bats. This folder also contains a file "Audio_condition_information.csv" that contains information on whether the audio file was recorded from the edge of the column of bats or the middle. For the "edge" condition, two times are provided for when the HawkEar is traversing the right or left edge of the column. 6. Husbandry_Field_Testing.pdf (and Husbandry_Field_Testing.txt): Additional information on the animal husbandry considerations for the HawkEar.