Choosing a camera trap - frequently asked questions

How can I set up a bird's nest or nest box camera trap with live streaming or a web cam?

Short answer: We have cameras that can monitor nests and nest boxes. However, if you need real time video streaming then we recommend you read a page from the Stanford University website:

• Read information on setting up a web cam for a bird's nest

Long answer:

Many researchers set up cameras to monitor nests and nest boxes. In some cases the camera streams video in real time to a computer which then publishes the video to the internet. The camera is often called a "web cam".

This approach typically requires that you run a cable from the nest to a computer. The computer should be dedicated to managing that camera and publishing the video to the internet. Special software is used on the computer to manage this. The camera, at the nest, will need power which is also usually provided by cable - either the USB cable being used for the camera (if the nest is near enough to the computer) or a dedicated power line.

To read more about this technique [See Stanford University's page on setting up a web cam for a bird's nest.

Wildlife Monitoring does not offer camera setups for the above.

However, we do have camera traps that can monitor nest boxes. They can be activated by motion at the nest and/or set to a time lapse schedule where the camera is triggered at a set interval (eg. every 5 minutes, every 1 hour, every 24 hours, etc).

To obtain photos from this camera you would need to access the camera - which means going near the nest. There are exceptions to this, however - some cameras are mobile-enabled. This means they can use the mobile phone network to send images via email and/or MMS (ie. SMS). One further exception is a camera model which stores the camera in a physically separate box from the memory card. When the camera takes a photo, it sends the photo wirelessly to the receiver box that contains the memory card and saves the photo. You can access this memory card without disturbing the nest.

To find out current pricing and camera models, please:

• [setting up a web cam for a bird's nest Contact Wildlife Monitoring] with a brief description of your project.