Применение фотоловушек при изучении гнездового бюджета времени закрытогнездящихся воробьиных птиц

Behavioral studies of incubating and chick-feeding passerines imply round-the-clock observations at the nest. Camera traps can replace the observer helping to collect a significant amount of data without much time and effort . But this method also has disadvantages. The motion sensor of the camera trap often delays to catch a bird flying out of the nest:according to our data, in 48.7 % of cases the camera trap missed to capture the flying out. Processing photo and video files requires a lot of cameral time. Difficulties arise already at the first stage when extracting metadata from media files. We managed to solve the latter problem by using the ExifTool command. Biologically significant data were processed manually using MS Excel. Comparison of two models of camera traps (Reconix PC90 and SEELOCK ABP) showed the advantage of the first model over the second. We identified the most optimal camera trap settings for the time budgets of the White wagtail Motacilla alba ocularis and the Snow bunting Plectrophenax nivalis, both in the incubation period and in the period of feeding chicks. In the incubation period, the use of a time-lapse (with an interval of 1 minute and 1 shot per session) and a motion sensor (2 shots per session) was optimal. In the period of chick-feeding, the motion sensor shooting with 3 shots per session and a delay of 15 seconds between sessions was found to suit the purpose.