High-Flying Innovation

The Icarus Initiative is a series of projects that uses cutting-edge technology to track animal movements more efficiently than older systems.

- Uschi Müller

People have been tracking larger animals by satellite for a while now, but you have managed to scale the technology down to be small enough to attach to birds.

The idea of Icarus started back in 2000 when Prof Martin Wikelski was still an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois. He and his team had the idea of developing a global system that would track animals from space. The required technology was developed much later after the project received the necessary support from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Max Planck Society and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos). The development of small animal tags weighing less than 5g began in 2010 with a case study and was completed in 2017.

What is involved in attaching the trackers to the birds?

The researchers need to capture the animals and attach the transmitters. Various techniques are used to do this: Wikelski has developed a silicon harness, for example, which he uses to secure a transmitter to a bird. The straps are elasticated and fit the animal’s body snugly even if it gains or loses weight. The harness is also concealed by the feathers. All of this ensures that the transmitter does not impact negatively on the animals’ lives. It usually only takes a few minutes to attach. In some cases, the researchers measure the animals or take blood, feather or hair samples. The animals are individually tagged (using a bird ring, for example), so that transmitters and birds are identifiable. The birds are then released into the wild again and shortly afterwards continue on with their natural activities. The transmitter can now collect and transmit data – potentially over the entire lifetime of an animal: scientists have observed storks in this way for 10 years.

What are the advantages of tracking animals via satellite?