Datasets

Research efforts by the lab group often produce kinematic data describing animal movement over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. We use these data to examine the motivating hypotheses and research questions in our published papers, but in that form the kinematic data are often reported as a few summary numbers or statistics targeted at a particular question. Since the raw data may be of use to other researchers for comparison, reanalysis, etc. we are attempting to make these available for public download without registration, contact with the authors or any other requirements beyond those given in the license packaged with each download, typically Creative Commons By. Note that these downloads are the kinematics and associated metadata only; the videos used to measure the kinematics are quite bulky and are not typically made available from lab, university or public data repositories.

Cliff Swallow chases – this is a set of flight trajectories where one swallow pursues the other, from The mechanics and behavior of cliff swallows during tandem flights published in The Journal of Experimental Biology on May 22, 2014. Get the data!

Ruby Throated Hummingbird feeder departures under duress – these are flight trajectories of Ruby throated hummingbirds departing from a hummingbird feeder after completing feeding or in response to the approach of a second hummingbird, also recorded. An analysis of these data was published in PLoS ONE as Field Flight Dynamics of Hummingbirds during Territory Encroachment and Defense on June 3, 2015. Get the data (hosted by PLoS ONE)

Chimney Swift roosting flock – the flight trajectories of ~1800 Chimney Swifts as they circle and then enter a large chimney that serves as their overnight roost. An analysis of these data was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B as 3D trajectories and network analyses of group behaviour within Chimney Swift flocks during approaches to the roost on February 15, 2017. Get the data (hosted by Dryad)

Common Swift foraging flight – annotated high-resolution flight trajectories of Common Swifts in foraging flight. The analysis of these data was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology as Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) on September 19, 2018. Get the data (hosted by Dryad).

Draco gliding trajectories – 3D kinematics trajectories of Draco lizards gliding in their natural rainforest habitat in India. The analysis is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and the underlying data are available on DataDryad.

Even more Draco gliding data – Morphometrics, 3D kinematics trajectories, and body orientation of wild Draco lizards gliding in an arena constructed at a field site in India. The analysis is published in Scientific Reports and the underlying data are available on FigShare.

Chimney Swift chimney entries – the flight trajectories of Chimney Swifts entering a chimney. An analysis of these data was published in Bioinspiration & Biomimetics as “Competition and cooperation among chimney swifts at roost entry” on August 29, 2019. Grab the data from Figshare!.

Bird wind 3D morphology – Morphological data computed from 3D scans of bird wings from the North Carolina Museum of Natural History spread wing collection. Metrics include chord, camber, thickness, and cross-sectional area for 178 species. An analysis of these data was published in Nature Communications as “Morphological evolution of bird wings follows a mechanical sensitivity gradient determined by the aerodynamics of flapping flight” on November 18, 2023. Find the data on Figshare!

More to come!