Bird detection and species determination

A system for determining the species of birds in flight, comprising:

• at least one video camera;
• one or more computer processors programmed to execute
• an artificial neural network configured to receive video images from the at least one video camera and trained to recognize species of birds from images;
• a geometry feature extraction software module configured to receive at least one video stream from the at least one video camera and to output extracted geometric features related to birds captured in flight in the at least one video stream;
• a domain knowledge software module with a domain knowledge statistical model, configured to receive the extracted geometric features outputted by the geometry feature extraction software module and to generate a probability of observing respective species of birds given the extracted geometric features;
• and
• a species determination software module configured to receive a first species probability estimate based on output from the artificial neural network and a second species probability estimate based on output from the domain knowledge software module and to generate a final species probability estimate,
• wherein the extracted geometric features outputted from the computer-executed geometry extraction software module are selected from the group consisting of:
• size, positions, acceleration, vertical motion, flight trajectory, and wingbeat frequency.