There's an incredible amount of information that we don't know, even about our most common feeder birds,

有'的信息量令人難以置信，我們不'知道，甚至關於我們最常見的飼料鳥。

even here in North America where everybody’s feeding chickadees and cardinals.

即使是在北美，每個人都在餵雞鴨和紅雀。

It’s actually really hard to follow an individual bird over an extended period of time

其實要長期跟蹤一隻鳥，真的很不容易

and keep track of what it’s doing.

並跟蹤它在做什麼。

And bird the size of chickadees and nuthatches are way to small for GPS units and backpack receivers.

而像山雀和八哥這樣大小的鳥兒，對於GPS裝置和揹包接收器來說，實在是太小了。

This little tag right here is a PIT tag, a passive integrated transponder.

這個小標籤在這裡是一個PIT標籤，一個無源集成的應答器。

RFID stands for radio frequency identification,

RFID是射頻識別的意思。

and this is what allows us to track the feeding behavior of birds in an unprecedented way.

而這也是我們能夠以一種前所未有的方式追蹤鳥類的餵養行為的原因。

I’m the Director of Project FeederWatch here at the Lab of Ornithology.

我是鳥類學實驗室的FeederWatch項目的主任。

I got into ornithology because I like this,

我進入鳥類學是因為我喜歡這個。

I like being outside and I was really looking for a way to get outside.

我喜歡在外面，我真的很想找一個出去的方法。

and to do research that was related to feeder birds, to answer questions that we need to know about feeder birds.

並做研究，是與餵養鳥類， 回答問題，我們需要知道關於餵養鳥類。

So our whole set up here is we have a PVC tube that contains the birdseed.

所以，我們這裡的整個設置是我們有一個PVC管，包含鳥種。

This bin here is a waterproof container that holds all of the electronics.

這裡的這個垃圾桶是一個防水容器，可以裝下所有的電子產品。

This circle of wire here is actually the antenna that is creating the electromagnetic field

這裡的這一圈鐵絲其實就是產生電磁場的天線。

that’s probing the surrounding space for the presence of a PIT tag.

這是在探測周圍空間是否存在PIT標籤。

And whenever a bird lands on here to grab a seed, a bird that’s wearing a PIT tag,

而每當有鳥兒落在這裡搶奪種子時，一隻戴著PIT標籤的鳥兒。

it will absorb some of that electromagnetic energy

它將吸收部分電磁能量

and send a signal back to the antenna,

並將信號傳回天線。

which will then run down through this wire here onto our circuit board.

然後通過這根線跑到我們的電路板上。

And it’s a pretty simple RIFD unit. It has a memory chip here,

這是個很簡單的RIFD裝置。 它有一個內存芯片在這裡。

and anytime a bird with a PIT tag lands on here,

和任何時候的鳥 與PIT標籤降落在這裡，

on the circuit board we’re recording the date,

在電路板上，我們正在記錄日期。

the time to the second,

時至秒。

and the ID number of that bird.

以及該鳥的ID號。

One of the really neat things about the RIFD technology is that it’s been around since the 70s.

關於RIFD技術的一個真正整潔的事情是，它從70年代就開始了。

It’s not cutting edge technology, it’s in boxes that Walmart uses in distribution centers

這不是什麼尖端科技，而是沃爾瑪在配送中心使用的盒子裡

that tracks the boxes, it’s in our passports.

追蹤箱子，它是在我們的護照。

So, passive integrated transponder technology is out there. It has widespread commercial use, which makes it cheap for us

所以，無源集成應答器技術是有的。它有廣泛的商業用途，這使得我們的成本很低。

because companies are using it like crazy.

因為公司正在瘋狂地使用它。

When this technology came along and that light bulb went off

當這個技術出現，那個燈泡熄滅了的時候。

–hey, we can actually use this to understand the behavior of the individual birds, around the clock

-嘿，我們其實可以用這個來了解單個鳥類的行為，晝夜不停地進行

– how they feed during the day, their daily patterns of foraging behavior,

- 它們在一天中如何進食，它們每天的覓食行為模式。

how that changes throughout the course of the year, how birds switch their diet from season to season.

在一年中如何變化，鳥類如何從一個季節到另一個季節轉換它們的飲食。

All of these questions we can look at because of these little PIT tags

所有這些問題我們都可以看，因為這些小PIT標籤

that we’re putting on the legs of individual birds and tracking their individual behaviors.

我們給每隻鳥兒的腿上都貼了標籤 追蹤它們的個體行為

Live long and prosper.

長命百歲，興旺發達。

And students really love it.

而學生們也非常喜歡。

Change the battery…connect the circuit board to the computer.

換電池......把電路板連到電腦上。

4,000 hits at this one.

4000次點擊率，在這個。

We’re tracking about 125 individual birds of four species

我們正在追蹤四種鳥類的125只個體。

and from those 125 birds in the last two years we've recorded over

從這125只鳥在過去的兩年中，我們'記錄超過

2.2 million visits to the bird feeders that we have out in the woods here.

220萬人次到我們在這裡的樹林裡的喂鳥器。

We were blown away and thrilled

我們被嚇到了，激動不已

with the amount of data coming in from this really simple technology.

隨著這個真正簡單的技術所帶來的數據量。

And it's open up a whole world of new research and new avenues that we can travel down

它打開了整個世界的新研究和新的途徑，我們可以走下去。

and get students involved with to learn more about the natural world, focusing in on common backyard feeder birds

並讓學生參與進來，瞭解更多的自然界，重點是在常見的後院餵養鳥類

which are the model organisms for answering bigger scientific questions.

哪些是回答更大科學問題的模式生物。

We’ll just put it back together,

我們只是把它重新組裝起來。

fill it up with seed.

用種子填滿它。

One of the great powers of citizen science is that we’ve got people out there

公民科學的一個偉大的力量是 我們已經得到了人們在那裡。

watching birds everywhere in all sorts of different ecosystems and environments.

在各種不同的生態系統和環境中觀察各地的鳥類。

And since this technology is relatively inexpensive

而且由於這種技術相對便宜

and easy to use, I think we have the potential to expand,

且使用方便，我認為我們有拓展的潛力。

expand this research out and develop a network and answer some of those bigger questions.

把這個研究擴展出來，發展一個網絡，回答一些比較大的問題。