EPFL students have developed a system that can detect when barn owls fly into and out of their nests, without disturbing the birds. Their invention could soon be installed in some of the 350 birdhouses that biologists have set up in the Swiss region of Broye. Switzerland's barn owl population is under close watch. These animals are being threatened by a sharp decline in the number of barns and farms where they can build their nests. But biologists didn't have a practical, unobtrusive method for observing the animals in their natural habitat - until now. Students from EPFL's Octanis association have developed a prototype that can record when birds fly into and out of their birdhouses using a sensor installed at the entrance. The students came up with the idea after speaking with Isabelle Henry, a researcher who previously studied under barn owl expert Alexandre Roulin at the University of Lausanne.
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