Bird family ‘tweet’ in a very different way!
Manchester peregrines at cutting edge of social media technology

Gemma Hogg, RSPB media officer (press release)

Peregrine falcons tend to screech rather than tweet, but one family of raptors in Manchester are doing both.

Fans of the famous Manchester peregrines can now follow the charismatic birds of prey via an innovative new automated Twitter account, thanks to help from the RSPB and Manchester Digital Development Agency. It is thought to be the first time birds have actually sent their own tweets to the micro-blogging site.

 

Each time there is significant movement on the secret city-centre nest site where the pair are currently raising four chicks, a nest camera records 20 seconds of footage, which is uploaded to Flickr. An automated message is then sent to the birds’ followers on Twitter alerting them to the new film. Currently four films are created per hour. Although the technology has only been up and running for a few days, the Manchester peregrines have already attracted over 170 followers on Twitter and more than 7000 views on Flickr.

 

Joanna Keene, the RSPB’s Manchester people engagement officer says: “Following the peregrines on Twitter is a great way of catching some of the best action from the nest. With four hungry, fast-growing chicks there is rarely a dull moment.” Alan Holding of Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA), who developed the technology with his team, says: “We thought this project would be an innovative way for the RSPB to use web services like Twitter and Flickr.

 

“The technical work for me and my team was to get different bits of existing technology working together. “The camera already has a motion sensor built-in, so our job was to figure out how to get the video clips off the camera, over to MDDA's offices using our public wireless network, then automatically uploading the clips to Flickr and sending tweets about the new clips to Twitter. “To help give the peregrines a voice, RSPB staff supplied us with some phrases to use for the tweets, and we used a simple computer program to select a random phrase to use when they tweet.

 

“We're proud of our work on this project as we know it's made a big impact on the people of Manchester and has also helped the RSPB reach a global audience with limited resources.” Twitter is just one of several ways to catch up with the peregrines and their chicks. You can join the 12,000 people who are already following the peregrines at home through live streaming or see them in high definition on the BBC Big Screen in Manchester’s Exchange Square at lunchtimes on selected days over the next few months.  

 

There is also the opportunity to see the peregrines in the flesh, flying above the city centre, with RSPB staff and volunteers in Exchange Square everyday (11am to 6pm, weather permitting), armed with powerful telescopes and binoculars.  

 

This is the fifth successive year the RSPB has run the Manchester Peregrine project. It forms part of the conservation charity’s Date with Nature programme of events, which make rare and spectacular wildlife accessible for everyone to see. Follow the peregrines on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/mcrperegrines. For live streaming visit: www.ustream.tv/channel/livenest or www.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature. Video clips can be found on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcrperegrines/.