I think u can simply mount the camera and start observing the nesting behavior of the birds. care must be taken about not disturbing the bird and his territory while observing the same

I've had success with Reconyx Hyperfire professional grade series (600US$/each) cameras to record mammal activities and recommend them . But, whether to use cameras at all may be a better question. What exactly do you want to document, and do you need a picture of it? I assume the idea is to document the behavior and time? Maybe you could maximize your survey by using a cheaper alternative to detect activity at a nest? A thermometer with a microprocessor and storage to detect nest heat? A digital scale beneath the nest? Tell us some more about the study objectives and maybe we can all provide some more detailed answers... Good luck!

Thanks Scott, I want to document the timing (date) of the start of nesting, fledging and ultimately dispersal without frequent visits to the colonies . I was looking for info of types of cameras (good picture quality, affordability, battery life, storage capacity, etc). I don think I need night time photos but I could be wrong, I also don't need motion activated and think preset schedule would be better (several photos per day and pre selected times).

I won't know where specific nests will be located. I seem to have read about a new type of camera that allows you to focus the picture after the photo is taken. However I don't think these have much in the way of storage and or ability to operate remotely.

Something to consider, our lab recently conducted a study of the effects of military flights on colonial water birds by placing remote sensing cameras on numerous nests. Within a relatively short period of time predators (nest predators primarily racoons, possums, as well as birds of prey, foxes, etc.) appeared to learn that the location of these boxes meant there was a nest directly next to it.

Nest and chick predation was significantly higher for nests having a camera mounted next to it compared to those without.

Again, just something you should consider. Hope this helps.

Thanks Zach. Tats good info. I had hoped to not monitor individual nests, with that said our islands a remote and small and don't support mammalian predators though gulls and ravens and owls may be a problem.

Zach, interesting experience. I would not have thought of that, but now that you say so, I'm not that surprised.

Keith, recs:

battery life, not sure this is stricly a camera model thing, but probably more related to the air temperatures (cold is bad for batteries) and the type of batteries you use.

storage: I assume most cameras now use removable memory cards, so this is mostly related to how you set up the camera (picture resolution and trigger rate) and the size of the card.

pictures: like most digital cameras, probably just a megapixel and write resolution issue.

A note or two to consider: will a camera's flash bother your study? what about the sound of the camera taking a picture? For mammals, both of these can cause many problems, depending on the study objectives.

Check this site for some trail cam reviews:

http://www.trailcampro.com/trailcamerareviews.aspx

Thanks Scott much appreciated. I don't think sound will be an issue, these are very open grassy islands with lots of wind and birds calling.

I analyzed data on Snow Geese and Ross's geese from Karrak Lake, collected in 1993. the cameras were set to film one frame every 1 minute. I used a film editor to record what was going on in each frame. (Gave me a wicked golfer's elbow :) You can read about the study in Journal of Ornithology :Jónsson, J.E., A.D. Afton, and R. T. Alisauskas. 2007. Does body size influence nest attendance? A comparison of Ross’s geese (Chen rossii) and the larger, sympatric lesser snow geese (C. caerulescens caerulescens) Journal of Ornithology 148: 549-555 (júní 2007). DOI : 10.1007/s10336-007-0169-6.

Thanks Jon. I will check it out