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Animal welfare meets technology: with NB-IoT and Satellite, animals can be monitored everywhere – for less effort and more control.
T IoT
Wildlife tracking: Keeping an eye on endangered birds worldwide
From Andean condors to white storks, researchers are fitting endangered bird species with connected GPS trackers and, thanks to IoT connectivity, are obtaining detailed movement profiles from around the world.
Source: Condor – Paul Monas B.
In brief
- Researchers use GPS tags from e-obs to track wild birds over a period of several years and gain a better understanding of their behaviour.
- The devices track position, movement and flight attitude, and transmit the data to the cloud via Telekom’s mobile network.
- Thanks to Deutsche Telekom's global IoT connectivity, species conservation projects can be carried out across national borders.
Endangered kings of the skies: How telemetry helps protect species
When Andean condors circle above the sheer cliffs of the Andes, they are more than just a symbol of freedom. For biologists, this endangered species serves as an indicator of the health of entire ecosystems. Weighing up to 15 kilograms, Andean condors are considered the heaviest birds of prey in the world and have a wingspan of up to 3.30 metres. The birds live in sparsely populated regions, travel long distances between roosts, feeding grounds and breeding sites, and are highly sensitive to changes in their habitat. To safeguard their population, researchers need to know exactly where the birds are, which routes they use and what threats they face.
This is precisely where modern wildlife telemetry comes in. Project teams fit condors with lightweight GPS tags that record their movements over a period of years. The transmitters not only record the birds’ position, but also how fast they are moving, how often they flap their wings and the orientation of their bodies in space. This data is used to create movement profiles that provide insights into flight performance, energy expenditure, breeding behaviour and potential disturbances.
Precise movement patterns rather than isolated observations
For a long time, wildlife research relied on isolated observations. Whilst radio telemetry, sporadic GPS measurements and sightings in the field do provide clues as to where the animals are, they leave many questions unanswered: Which routes do the animals actually take? How do they use the airspace at different altitudes? When do they find themselves in stressful situations or become disturbed by human activities?
Networked GPS tags, such as those developed by the Bavarian telemetry specialist e-obs, are fundamentally changing the data set. The tags can record positions at short intervals and supplement these with sensor data on movement and flight attitude. “This makes it possible, for example, to reconstruct when a bird ascends in a thermal or transitions to gliding flight, and when it is walking, resting or foraging,” says e-obs Managing Director Franz Kümmeth. This level of detail is crucial for many research questions. It helps to understand habitat use, identify critical phases throughout the year and plan measures for the protection of endangered species in a more targeted manner.
From tracker to dataset: How mobile technology connects wild birds
The technical basis for these movement profiles lies in the combination of sensor technology and connectivity. e-obs’ GPS tags are designed to remain attached to the animal for many years. Solar cells power the integrated battery, ensuring that the devices operate reliably even on long migration routes or in remote regions.
Inside the tags, GPS modules record the animal’s position at set intervals. Various sensors provide additional information on how fast the animal is moving or the orientation of its body. The measured values are initially stored in the internal memory. Several times a day, the device activates its radio module and connects to an available mobile network to transmit the stored data to the e-obs server. The measurement results are then made available to the scientific community.
For the project teams, this means they no longer need to go out into the field to download data from devices, but can instead access the data sets via platforms specifically designed for movement data. The Movebank research database, for example (see info box), brings together data from projects around the world and makes it possible to identify patterns across individual populations and regions.
Movebank: A hub for activity data
Movebank is an online platform for animal movement data, run by the international research community. Hundreds of teams worldwide use it to store, share and analyse GPS positions and other sensor data. Movement data from projects using e-obs tags can also be uploaded to the platform. This enables movement patterns to be compared across species, regions and studies, and incorporated into joint species conservation strategies.
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Global IoT connectivity covering more than 90 countries
Wild birds do not respect national borders. White storks, for example, migrate from Central Europe to the Sahel and back, crossing several national borders in the process. Condors and vultures, too, cover vast areas, flying over numerous borders. For telemetry, this means that the GPS tags must work across different mobile networks, ideally without the project managers having to take out data contracts with different providers in every country.
This is where Deutsche Telekom’s IoT eSIMs come into play. e-obs’ GPS tags feature integrated SIM chips that can connect to numerous partner networks via Telekom’s global IoT network. “For us, the most important thing is that profiles can be managed flexibly and that the hardware remains compact,” says Kümmeth. “After all, every extra gram on the transmitter increases the burden on the animal.”
Thanks to this connectivity, universities, research institutes, nature conservation organisations and public authorities are working together with e-obs on projects in more than 90 countries – from Europe and Africa to North and South America. Even when a migratory bird is flying from Denmark to South Africa, the transmitter remains accessible along the route and can transmit its data packets as soon as a mobile network is available.
“Our tags track wild birds across national borders. Deutsche Telekom's IoT connectivity ensures that we can reliably transmit their data even whilst they are on the move.”
Franz Kümmeth, Co-Founder e-obs
Case studies: White storks and vultures in focus
As well as the Andean vultures in South America, projects in Europe also demonstrate how wildlife tracking can be used in practice. In Spain and other parts of the Mediterranean region, movement data is helping to identify and monitor the feeding grounds, roosting sites and breeding grounds of endangered vulture species. The data sets reveal where flight paths intersect with human infrastructure such as power lines or wind turbines, and where there is an increased risk of collision.
Research into the white stork focuses on collective bird migration and learning processes. Researchers are analysing how young birds choose their routes, what role experienced conspecifics play, and how environmental changes affect migratory behaviour and wintering grounds. The combination of GPS data, movement profiles and other sensor information enables a better understanding of social networks and decision-making processes within the flocks.
Source: Fundación Cóndor Andino; Storks - MPIAB
IoT Connectivity
IoT Connectivity
The right IoT connectivity coordinates IoT connections across platforms, integrates devices and data via API, and enables global control with the highest security standards. You can manage your IoT projects flexibly, efficiently, and independently of manufacturers.
Kerstin Koch
Marketing Manager IoT
Since 2016, Kerstin has been part of the IoT journey at Deutsche Telekom. Over the years, she has supported numerous marketing and cultural projects – always with the goal of making IoT tangible and relevant. She translates complex topics into clear, user-focused language and puts real customer success stories front and center. In the IoT blog, she highlights selected use cases and references, showing how companies create measurable value with IoT.
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