Real-time bird detection based on background subtraction

Detection of birds in air is an important problem across multiple applications including aviation safety, avian protection, and ecological science of migrant bird species. In this paper we describe a real-time detection system of birds in flight. Using a single fixed camera, our bird detection system is based on background subtraction and tracking through point correspondence. We make use of Zivkovic's background subtraction approach which includes a non-parametric model and a Gaussian mixture model that is an extension of the standard method. We append a correspondence component based on point-tracking to the background subtraction algorithm to achieve reliable bird detection. Experiments were conducted to study the detection performance using objects of different size, color and velocity. The results show efficiency and accuracy of our system in the detection of fast motion objects such as birds.

[1]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[2]  K. Rosenberg,et al.  Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) Persists in Continental North America , 2005, Science.

[3]  Chris S. Elphick,et al.  How you count counts: the importance of methods research in applied ecology , 2008 .

[4]  John W. Livingston,et al.  Monitoring bird migration with a fixed-beam radar and a thermal-imaging camera , 2006 .

[5]  Steven G Hall,et al.  A Comparison of Image Processing Techniques for Bird Recognition , 2006, Biotechnology progress.

[6]  Neil D. Burgess,et al.  Bird Census Techniques , 1992 .

[7]  Pol Coppin,et al.  Webcams for Bird Detection and Monitoring: A Demonstration Study , 2010, Sensors.

[8]  G. Lowery,et al.  A quantitative study of the nocturnal migration of birds , 1952 .

[9]  Stuart J. Russell,et al.  Image Segmentation in Video Sequences: A Probabilistic Approach , 1997, UAI.

[10]  W. Eric L. Grimson,et al.  Using adaptive tracking to classify and monitor activities in a site , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (Cat. No.98CB36231).

[11]  Josiane Zerubia,et al.  An automatic counter for aerial images of aggregations of large birds , 2011 .

[12]  C. J. Wong,et al.  Development of Migratory Birds Population Monitoring System Using Digital Single Reflex Camera , 2011, 2011 Eighth International Conference Computer Graphics, Imaging and Visualization.

[13]  Paul E. Allen,et al.  Some Approaches to Finding Birds in Video Imagery , 1992 .

[14]  D. Lack,et al.  Detection of Birds by Radar , 1945, Nature.

[15]  Larry S. Davis,et al.  Non-parametric Model for Background Subtraction , 2000, ECCV.

[16]  Florent Lafarge,et al.  A Geometric Primitive Extraction Process for Remote Sensing Problems , 2008, ACIVS.

[17]  Willem Bouten,et al.  Extracting bird migration information from C-band Doppler weather radars , 2008 .

[18]  Thomas Alerstam,et al.  Bimodal orientation and the occurrence of temporary reverse bird migration during autumn in south Scandinavia , 1996, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[19]  Louisa J. M. Jansen,et al.  Land-cover harmonisation and semantic similarity: some methodological issues , 2008 .

[20]  Ferdinand van der Heijden,et al.  Efficient adaptive density estimation per image pixel for the task of background subtraction , 2006, Pattern Recognit. Lett..

[22]  Yee-Hong Yang,et al.  The background primal sketch: An approach for tracking moving objects , 1992, Machine Vision and Applications.

[23]  Mark D. Anderson,et al.  Using object-based analysis of image data to count birds: mapping of Lesser Flamingos at Kamfers Dam, Northern Cape, South Africa , 2011 .