Saving Birdsong: Using Machine Learning to Monitor Kiwi Birds and Possums

Birdsong is the world's finest music. Yet in New Zealand, where birds are regarded as taonga or precious things, a unique ecological conundrum exists. For an estimated 70 million years, New Zealand was isolated by water from the rest of the world, and its birds evolved free from predator mammals. As a result, many of New Zealand's birds, including the iconic kiwi, lost the ability to fly. Unfortunately, predators such as rats, possums, and stoats have gradually been introduced and are increasing.